In the 40 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic, scientists have tried and failed to develop an effective vaccine against HIV. Finally, a worthy contender has entered the ring: This week, Moderna started human clinical trials of an HIV vax that uses the same mRNA technology as its COVID jabs. Previous trials conducted on monkeys have shown a lot of promise and testing the vaccine on real people is a critical last step to getting the vaccine approved for medical use.
Moderna confirmed that it had administered the first shots of its vaccine at George Washington University on Thursday alongside the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. The Phase 1 clinical trial consists of 56 HIV-negative adults across the country, 48 of whom will receive one or two doses of the mRNA vaccine. Out of those, 32 will also receive a booster, while eight other participants will receive only the booster, which is expected to produce HIV immunogens, per ABC. The goal of the vaccine is to stimulate the production of B-cells that will hopefully create antibodies against the virus and to also to determine which vaccine regimen is most effective.
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