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AIDS vaccine trial launched at RU Hospital
An investigational DNA-based HIV vaccine called ADVAX,
developed by Rockefeller University scientists at the Aaron Diamond AIDS
Research Center, was injected into its first patient last week at The
Rockefeller University Hospital, launching a 19-month trial designed to
evaluate its safety.
The vaccine is designed to prevent people who are
uninfected with the HIV virus from contracting AIDS. The trial, which will
enroll 45 healthy volunteers, aims to gather preliminary data on whether
ADVAX stimulates immune responses to the HIV virus.
The vaccine is tailored for the C strain of HIV that
accounts for the most HIV infections worldwide and is prevalent in China
and other developing countries, where millions of people are being infected
with HIV every year. Unlike traditional vaccines that contain a weakened or
inert form of a disease-causing agent, ADVAX is a DNA vaccine, which
contains only synthetic DNA based on portions of genetic material found in
HIV. The ADVAX vaccine does not contain HIV and cannot cause HIV infection.
Volunteers in the study, who will be paid $1,200 over
19 months for their participation, will be assigned to receive either the
vaccine or a placebo. They will then be monitored on an outpatient basis at
either The Rockefeller University Hospital or the University of Rochester
Medical Center.
“This trial will help science to gain important
information to move us towards the development of an effective vaccine,
which could ultimately benefit countless people,” says David Ho,
Rockefeller’s Irene Diamond Professor and scientific director of
ADARC.
Rockefeller University and ADARC conducted the initial
studies on HIV combination therapy in 1995. “We’re hopeful that
in 2003 this vaccine trial will also add significantly to our goal of
turning back this terrible epidemic,” says Rockefeller President Paul
Nurse.
ADARC and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a
global nonprofit scientific organization that is co-sponsoring the
research, have agreed that if ADVAX proves effective, it will be made
available in developing countries at reasonable prices.
December 12, 2003
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