Tag: HIV VACCINE

Zimbabwe to Begin HIV Vaccine Clinical Trial in May

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere A clinical research study to assess the safety and efficacy of a new HIV vaccine is set to begin in Zimbabwe in May this year. The study will be coordinated across three sites: Mutala in Zimbabwe, the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town, and the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban. The research follows findings that countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zimbabwe and South Africa, face a high risk of new HIV infections and continue to experience unacceptably high rates of mother-to-child transmission. Speaking to nurses…

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HIV vaccines tested in PrEPVacc fail to reduce infections

Michael Gwarisa

The results of the PrEPVacc HIV vaccine trial conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa, which ran between 2020 and 2024, show conclusively that neither of the two experimental vaccine regimens tested reduced HIV infections among the study population. Vaccinations in the PrEPVacc trial were stopped in November 2023 (and publicly announced in December 2023) when it became clear to independent experts monitoring the study data that there was little or no chance of the vaccines demonstrating efficacy in preventing HIV acquisition. The PrEPVacc vaccine trial results, announced today at AIDS…

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Mutating HIV Virus Making It Difficult To Develop Vaccine

Michael Gwarisa

THE ever-changing genetic makeup and rapid mutation of the HIV virus has to a larger extent slowed down progress towards successfully developing an effective HIV vaccine, a top Zimbabwean expert has said. By Michael Gwarisa The revelations also follow the recent abandonment of the Imbokodo HIV vaccine or HVTN 705/HPX2008 efficacy studies after revelations that the vaccine was not granting enough protection against infection. In an interview with HealthTimes, Dr Portia Hunidzarira, the Principal Researcher for the Imbokodo vaccine studies said the HIV virus mutates at a faster rate and…

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HIV Vaccine Trials Discontinued After It Fails To Prevent HIV Infection

Michael Gwarisa

THE HVTN 705/HPX2008 or Imbokodo study, which began in 2017 to test whether the Imbokodo vaccine regimen could prevent women in Sub-Saharfan Africa from getting HIV has been discontinued following indications that the vaccine did not provide sufficient protection against infection. By Michael Gwarisa In a statement, Johnson & Johnson said data showed the investigational HIV  vaccine regimen did not provide sufficient protection against HIV infection in a population of young women in sub–Saharan Africa at high risk of acquiring HIV even though the investigational vaccine was found to have…

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Researchers Not Giving Up On Imbokodo HIV Vaccine Study

Healthtimes

PERSISTENT researchers feel the halted HTVN 702 study on the efficacy of an HIV vaccine will not affect the Imbokodo Vaccine Trial study launched in 2017. By Kudakwashe Pembere HVTN  702 study was stopped following an interim analysis conducted on 23 January 2020 by an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) that reviews all data regularly to ensure the safety of participants and determine if the study should continue. The DSMB assessment concluded that the experimental vaccine regimen used in the trial did not prevent HIV infection. The vaccine…

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