ViroBlogy

Finally, finally, a product of our 10-odd-year-old South African HIV vaccine development programme goes into Phase I human trial, in South Africa!

I say “our” because I was part of the overall team; however, the two vaccines which comprise the SA AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) / HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) trial – designated SAAVI 102/HVTN 073 – were designed and developed by others.

The vaccines consist of a DNA component, consisting of an artificial “polygene” dubbed Grttn (for Gag-RT-Tat-Nef) and a truncated Env (gp150) cloned separately into vector plasmids, and the same genes recombined under the control of different promoters into the genome of a poxvirus (Modified Vaccinia Ankara, MVA).  These and their testing in mice and non-human primates have been described in published work: see here and here for relevant journal articles on the MVA and DNA components.

From the July 20th SAAVI press release:

The test vaccines – called SAAVI MVA-C and SAAVI DNA-C2 – have shown promising results in animal testing. The SAAVI DNA-C2 vaccine was constructed in South Africa using a plasmid backbone provided by the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of NIAID, while the MVA vaccine was designed by the team at UCT and constructed and manufactured in the USA.

“Reaching this important milestone of translating our discoveries in the laboratory to testing in humans would not have been possible without the support of a large team of people from the University of Cape Town, together with national and international collaborations.  An effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS remains a top global health priority and it is our hope that the evaluation of these vaccines in clinical trial will provide some important answers that will bring us closer towards this goal,” says Prof. Anna-Lise Williamson, leader of the vaccine development team and joint staff member of UCT’s Institute for Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, and the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS).

The SAAVI DNA-C2 was constructed in South Africa and manufactured in the US by Althea Technologies. The MVA vaccine was manufactured by Therion Biologics, USA. The vaccines will be tested in a prime-boost approach where the SAAVI DNA-C2 vaccine will be given to prime the immune response and the SAAVI MVA-C vaccine to boost or enhance the immune response.

National and international press got hold of the story in a big way – unsurprisingly, given as there is the 5th IAS Conference on AIDS Pathogenesis going in in Cape Town at the same time, which incidentally has its own live blog feed.

The University of Cape Town is obviously pleased with the press release (see here); however, the launch had its fair share of controversy: Associated Press reporter Michelle Faul posted a story yesterday entitled “South Africa begins AIDS vaccine trial, cuts funds“, which has been taken up by a wide spectrum of especially foreign media.  According to Faul:

“South Africa launched a high-profile trial of an AIDS vaccine created by its own researchers Monday, a proud moment in a nation where government denial, neglect and unscientific responses have helped fuel the world’s worst AIDS crisis.

After a government official lauded the project at a ceremony at Cape Town’s Crossroads shantytown, the scientist leading the research said state funding had been halted.

The contrast between Monday’s hopeful vaccine launch and the revelation of funding cuts raised questions about whether the government was backsliding on its pledge to combat AIDS.

Anna-Lise Williamson, an AIDS researcher at the University of Cape Town, told The Associated Press the clinical trial would continue with U.S. money. But she said South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology had pulled its funding in March, while the project’s other sponsor, the state electricity utility Eskom, did not renew its contract when it expired last year.

Neither government spokesmen nor Eskom immediately returned calls seeking comment about funding cuts.”

In the midst of light, there is darkness…frequently, thanks to ESKOM! 

I have blogged on my personal view elsewhere; suffice it to say that bad decisions were made, and  9 years worth of momentum has effectively been lost – along with a number of very experienced personnel, and many years worth of accumulated and very relevant experience.

For an illustration of the product pipeline which existed behind the current trial offerings – and which may now never be developed – click here  for published descriptions of our plasmid- and BCG-vectored and virus-like particle (VLP) subunit vaccines.

But who knows, this current trial may even show promise – and then it will all have been worth it.  Let’s live in hope!