Australia's therapuetic HIV vaccine

Australia's therapuetic HIV vaccine - hype ?

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Ren Stimpy - 20 Feb 2004 21:48 GMT

This news item received little attention so I'm just curious what do
y'all think?

MELBOURNE, Australia Health officials here are hailing a vaccine to
prevent AIDS in HIV-positive patients as a major breakthrough, the
Herald Sun of Melbourne reported. The first of its kind in the world,
the injection shows promise from early results, according to the
newspaper. It is designed to jump-start the body's immune system to
fight the virus that causes AIDS, the Sun reported. Australian
researchers last week announced promising results from a trial for the
vaccine, developed by biotechnology company Virax, which may enable
patients' HIV level to remain low so that those patients can avoid
full-blown AIDS. Professor Steve Wesselingh, director of Melbourne's
Burnet Institute, said the new treatment could be available in a few
years, according to the Sun. "This is a major breakthrough,"
Wesselingh, an infectious diseases expert, told the Sun. "This is
moving from the concept of treating HIV with anti-virals to the
concept of treating someone who is HIV-positive with a vaccine that
will stimulate the immune system to control the virus."

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GMCarter - 21 Feb 2004 12:02 GMT

>This news item received little attention so I'm just curious what do
>y'all think?

Intriguing but over-hyped. The original data they discuss was not so
glowing.
George M. Carter

***
Session 52 Poster Abstracts
Vaccine Clinical Trials
Wednesday, 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Poster Hall

289
Long-term Follow-up of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Seropositivity
among Uninfected HIV Vaccine Recipients in France
B Silbermann*1, O Launay1, C Desaint1, H Poncelet1, Y Souteyrand2, F
Hesmati1, G Pialoux3, and D Salmon-Céron1
1Cochin Hosp., Paris, France; 2Natl. French Agency for AIDS Res.
(ANRS), Paris, France; and 3Tenon Hosp., Paris, France

Background: Immunization with HIV preventive vaccine constructs
elicit antibodies detected by standard serologic tests. The objective
of this study was to determine the frequency and the durability of
vaccine-induced HIV antibodies among uninfected HIV vaccine trial
participants.

Methods: Among the 76 vaccine participants enrolled between June 1992
and January 1997 in 8 phase I vaccine trials, 71 volunteers gave
informed consent to enter in a follow-up study and were tested for HIV
serologies by 2 screening tests (ELISA). These trials evaluated, alone
or in combination, a gp160 subunit protein and several recombinant
canarypox vectors in uninfected HIV volunteers selected through a
uniform selection process specifically designed by the National French
Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS).

Results: A total of 59 subjects (74.7%) seroconverted at least one
time in ELISA : 100% of the 42 subjects who received the group160
subunit protein alone or in combination but only 58.6% of the 29
subjects who did not received the group160. After a median follow-up
of 7 years (range 1 to 10 years) following the last vaccine injection,
24 subjects (40.6%) had still a positive HIV screening serology. Its
interesting to note that 23 of the 24 subjects received the gp160
subunit protein.

Conclusions: Immunization with vaccine containing group160 subunit
protein results in consistent and sustained (up to 10 years) positive
HIV screening serology (ELISA). This possible long-term persistence of
positive HIV screening tests must be taken into account when informing
subjects before enrolment in a HIV vaccine trial. In fact, such a
positive screening test may be discovered in the case of routine
screening and may represent a psychological and/or social disadvantage
or inconvenience. ANRS selected volunteers benefit from comprehensive
information and counselling and are provided with an identification
card indicating their participation in an HIV candidate vaccine trial
and the possibility of prolonged positive screening tests.

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