WHV joins the world in commemorating HIV Vaccine Awareness Day by acknowledging the continued need to develop a globally effective vaccine against HIV infection. Today, we appreciatively reflect back on the progress WHV and collaborators have made over the last year towards that goal.
Most recently, the HVTN124 trial report was published in the Lancet HIV, in which the scientists from the HIV Vaccine Trial Network (HVTN) report immunogenicity results elicited by our vaccine candidate PDPHV (polyvalent DNA/protein HIV vaccine) that were found to be superior to many previous HIV vaccines in several ways – a very promising step forward for the whole HIV vaccine research community. Furthermore, Dr Shan Lu has been working with other renowned researchers in the field on additional immune response studies related to PDPHV, of which another paper is about to be published in a major journal soon. Overall, the development program of PDPHV is moving along well, as WHV is currently in the process of closing out the recently finished phase 1b trial WHV138 in partnership with the clinical research team at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. The trial was completed successfully after about 2.5 years, confirming further that PDPHV is safe and showing similar immunogenicity as in HVTN124 that will be explored further in the next phase 2 trial.
However, none of this progress would be possible without the numerous volunteers participating in vaccine research and our many talented partners and collaborators joining forces toward the common goal: to develop a safe and effective, preventative HIV vaccine that can eventually eliminate the threat of AIDS around the world.
We at WHV are grateful for your support and eager to continue this quest together!
