LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Moderna announced it has begun early-stage testing of an mRNA vaccine to treat HIV infection in humans.
The first volunteers in the Phase I trial received initial doses at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, the pharmaceutical developer and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) said in a statement Thursday.
"We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform," the statement quoted Dr. Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI.
The two most popular COVID-19 vaccines were developed by Pfizer and Modern. Both are mRNA vaccines. The ability to elicit an immune response from genetic material has revealed new possibilities in the world of medicine.
"The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine,” Dr. Feinberg added.
Roughly 38 million people around the world live with HIV. Left untreated, it can progress, leading to an AIDS diagnosis. Without treatment, the prognosis is poor and the average mortality rate is 90%.
But HIV is not the death sentence it once was. With proper treatment and care, people who respond well to HIV treatment live normal, long lifespans. Modern day medications can reduce a person’s viral load to undetectable levels, preventing the person from transmitting the virus. Similar prescriptions also prevent HIV-negative patients from ever contracting the virus.
Researchers not only developed a primary vaccine as well as a booster. An estimated 48 of the volunteers will receive one or two doses of the mRNA HIV vaccine. Another 32 will also receive the booster dose. The remaining eight people will just be given the booster.
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