Promising HIV Vaccine May Take 10 Years to Perfect

If a breakthrough in developing an HIV vaccine occurred today, scientists and drug companies would need another decade to provide a commercial product. But, after a long struggle, researchers may indeed have made that breakthrough using a new vaccine approach that combines two prior ones. Given that the AIDS pandemic has been around for 30 years and has claimed 36 million lives, with 35 million more people currently infected with the HIV virus, the long-awaited goal might finally be attainable, according to researchers attending the 13th Aids Vaccine Conference last week in Barcelona.

This optimism is refreshing because the HIV vaccine track record has not been stellar. Of the five efficacy trials to date, four proved disappointing, with two of them even indicating an increased likelihood of contracting the virus among individuals who were vaccinated. It was only with RV144 (the so-called Thai trial) that a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Widely discredited by some heavyweights in the field before the trial results were announced, the RV144 vaccine showed the efficacy of an approach called prime boost - combining a DNA vaccine with a protein vaccine. RV144 provided 31 percent more protection than a placebo. The modest success was enough to spark the creation of the Pox Protein Public–Private Partnership (P5), a consortium of governments, companies and nongovernmental organizations that plans to take RV144 all the way to licensed product.

Despite the optimism about RV144, other researchers still question whether governments should be investing in a vaccine instead of concentrating on prevention and treatment strategies. Yes they should, said Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a plenary speech. “An HIV vaccine is essential to durably control and effectively end the pandemic,” Fauci asserted.

Of antibodies and T cells

Researchers follow two main approaches to an HIV vaccine: antibodies and T cells. Antibodies, proteins produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, were big in the early years of the research, but after disappointing results interest moved to responses conducted by immune cells. This changed again with the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies, which are produced by 20 percent of HIV-positive individuals two or three years after infection.

These antibodies are able to target specific regions of the virus that are important for its survival and are present in many of the different HIV subtypes. So a vaccine comprising them might be effective despite the virus’s variability, a problem that has been a considerable hurdle. They are so promising, researchers at the meeting said, that one of the recommended therapeutic approaches is to inject the antibodies directly into the bloodstreams of those at risk. Although these antibodies have been used to treat specific illnesses, they have not been considered as a vaccine substitute for the broad population.