An update on clinical trials in the first plenary session at AIDS Vaccine 2009 today showed that more effective HIV vaccines are in the pipeline than any that have been tested before.

Gary Nabel, director of the Vaccine Research Centre at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: “We have exciting new candidates that are eliciting response that have not been seen before.”

He told the packed hall that the HIV Vaccine Trials Network is currently testing a product that has shown great promise immunologically – in the lab delivering a “robust” response in stimulating CD4 cells and antibodies.

The HVTN 505 trial is testing a multiclade (includes different sub-types of HIV) DNA vaccine with an Adno booster (intended to stimulate the immune system). This Phase II trial started this year and will wrap up in 2012.

He also described new concepts around T-cell vectors (vaccines that stimulate cell-mediated immune response) and said this field was making advances. In particular he reported on the efficacy of the LCMV (a type of virus) at stimulating a powerful immune response in lab tests and he talked about a new generation of vaccines using the “mosaic” concept.

“On the T-cell side we can look forward to a lot of improvements,” he indicated.
Nabel said progress has been made on stimulating antibody immunity, guided by the analyses of blood from people who successfully generate broad neutralising antibodies.
“These individuals can serve as a guide to vaccine development,” he said.

Nabel emphasised the need to find new ways to measure immunity that will correlate (show a link to) protection against HIV and the important the window of opportunity to stop HIV as soon as it infects the cervix.

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