HIV Vaccine Candidate Included in HVTN 132 Study

An Atlanta based biotechnology company commented on the recent discontinuance of the HVTN 702 clinical trial.

On February 3, 2020, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that it has stopped the administration of vaccinations in its HVTN 702 clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine.  

Although there were no safety concerns, an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) found during an interim review that the regimen did not prevent HIV infection. 

The HVTN 702 vaccine regimen consisted of 2 experimental vaccines.

The HVTN 702 study was based on the only vaccine regimen ever to show protection from HIV—the regimen tested in the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand led by the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and the Thai Ministry of Health. 

For HVTN 702, the vaccine regimen was adapted to the HIV subtype Clade C most common in southern Africa, where the HIV pandemic is most pervasive.

David Dodd, GeoVax President & CEO, commented in a related press release, “The failure of the HVTN 702 vaccine regimen to prevent HIV infection is a disappointment to everyone in the field, especially to those most closely associated with the conduct of the trial.”

“GeoVax shares in this disappointment and agrees with NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s statement that “Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved.”

Mr. Dodd continued, “Our HIV vaccine candidate, GOVX-B11, will be included in an upcoming clinical trial (HVTN 132) managed by the HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials Network (HVTN) with support from NIAID, which is targeted to begin in late-2020.”  

“We believe the immune system responses elicited by GOVX-B11 in previous clinical trials  (HVTN 205) show encouraging features when compared to the data generated in the RV144 trial.”

“These features include the durability of the elicited antibody and T cell responses and the highly favorable IgG3/IgA ratio of 6.0 in HVTN 205 vs 0.75 in RV144.”  

“GOVX-B11 remains ready for progressing into a pivotal trial to determine safety and efficacy in populations at risk.”

GeoVax Labs, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer using a novel vaccine platform (GV-MVA-VLPTM).

Click here to view a white paper on GOVX-B11.

HIV vaccine development news published by Precision Vaccinations.