PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsmRNA HIV vaccine trial to start

BioNews

mRNA HIV vaccine trial to start

Published 20 August 2021 posted in News and appears in BioNews 1109

Author

Dr Elissar Gerges

PET BioNews

Moderna has started a trial for its HIV vaccine, based on mRNA technology...

Moderna has started a trial for its HIV vaccine, based on mRNA technology.

After its successful development of the COVID-19 vaccine last year, the US pharmaceutical and biotech company will use mRNA technology in two new HIV vaccines. A series of these will be used alongside some HIV vaccines already developed using more traditional vaccine technology. Together they are designed to trigger a specific type of immune cell called B-cells, to create antibodies that are known to 'neutralise' HIV. These are the same type of B-cell that is triggered by current HIV treatment and PrEP, which is given prophylactically to people at greater risk of exposure to HIV or those who know they have been exposed to the virus.

'Moderna are testing a complicated concept which starts the immune response against HIV,' Professor Robin Shattock, an immunologist at Imperial College London, who is not involved in the trial told The Independent, 'It gets you to first base but it's not a home run. Essentially we recognise that you need a series of vaccines to induce a response that gives you the breadth needed to neutralise HIV.'

HIV is a virus that is blood-borne or sexually transmitted and affects a person's immune system making them less able to fight off infections, and more likely to develop certain cancers. Upon entering human cells it mutates rapidly which makes it difficult for the immune system to learn how to attack it.

According to the US National Institutes of Health's clinical trials registry, 56 HIV-negative people between the ages of 18 and 50 have been recruited into the phase 1 trial which will test the overall safety of the vaccine, and see whether or not it creates an immunological response. There will be four groups on the first phase of the trial with two receiving a mix of the mRNA vaccine versions, and two receiving one or the other. The trial is not blind and participants will know which group they are in.

The two mRNA vaccines being trialled will eventually be used alongside a vaccine developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Scripps Research. Earlier this year results from a trial of this vaccine showed 97 percent of participants who received the vaccine developed B cell stimulation, but not enough immune response. It is hoped the two Moderna mRNA HIV vaccines have the potential to prime a specific type of B-cell that can develop into cells that create HIV neutralising antibodies and the other vaccine will stimulate them to do so.

The study is expected to run until May 2023, with the first phase lasting around ten months.

Sources and References

  • 19/08/2021
    Independent
    ‘A potential first step forward’: Moderna to launch human trials for new HIV vaccines
  • 19/08/2021
    Evening Standard
    Moderna’s human HIV vaccine trial to use same tech as Covid jab
  • 19/08/2021
    Gay Times
    Moderna to begin human trials for new HIV vaccines
  • 11/08/2021
    Clinicaltrials.gov
    A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of eOD-GT8 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644) and Core-g28v2 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644v2-Core)
  • 11/01/2021
    Moderna
    Moderna provides business update and announces three new development programs in infectious disease vaccines
  • 05/08/2021
    Moderna
    Moderna reports second quarter fiscal year 2021 financial results and provides business updates
  • 03/02/2021
    Iavi
    First-in-human clinical trial confirms novel HIV vaccine approach developed by IAVI and Scripps Research

Related Articles

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
News
15 May 2020 • 1 minute read

Critical window for re-infection with HIV after stem cell transplantation

by Dr Molly Godfrey

New research, in HIV positive patients being treated for blood cancer, has identified a critical time window after donor transplantation, during which the expanding donor cells are particularly vulnerable to being infected with HIV.

Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
News
13 March 2020 • 2 minutes read

'London patient' declared cured of HIV after three years

by Jennifer Frosch

Three years after receiving a stem cell transplant, a man from London is the second patient in history to be cured of HIV, doctors report...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Comment
31 January 2020 • 4 minutes read

The aftermath of the He Jiankui fiasco: China's response

by Dr Patrick Foong

Dr He Jiankui, who claimed that the world's first babies had been born with edited genomes, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined for performing 'illegal medical practices'...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
13 September 2019 • 2 minutes read

Genome-editing shows potential for treating HIV in patient

by Charlotte Spicer

Chinese scientists have used the genome editing tool CRISPR in an attempt to treat HIV in a patient with blood cancer, for the first time...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« BRCA2 DNA repair errors implicated in infertility

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
13 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Drop in diversity of blood stem cells leads to old-age health issues

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

UK report reveals public attitudes to fertility, genomics and embryo research

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Shortage of sperm donors despite men willing to donate

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

North East London CCG proposes offering three funded IVF cycles

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Fibrosis drugs reverse ovarian ageing in mice

27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Gene implicated in motor neurone diseases discovered

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856