The results were not only disappointing in terms of vaccine research, but also showed SA’s alarmingly high prevalence of HIV
In a blow to global HIV vaccine research, scientists have halted a large SA trial testing an experimental shot, after a routine review found it does not work. There is no evidence it caused any harm.
The HVTN 702/Uhambo study, funded by the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was designed to test a modified version of the 2009 Thai RV155 vaccine,, in the hope that the adaptations would yield a better result. But a routine, interim review of the HVTN 702 study conducted by an independent data safety monitoring board on January 23 2020, found the experimental shot did not provide any protection against HIV.
Wits health consortium HIV researcher Francesca Conradie, who was not involved in the trial, said the high HIV infection rates were worrying, and suggested current prevention strategies were not working. “We think there are a couple of reasons why it didn’t work. One is that the force of infection in SA is 14 times that of Thailand and this regimen was just not able to withstand the attack rate. Maybe what we had was a pellet gun and we needed a bazooka,” said Gray.
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