GeoVax finishes enrolment in phase I/II test of DNA/MVA vaccine

GeoVax has finished its enrolment in a nine-patient phase I/II clinical trial, which looks into the safety, immunogenicity and ability of its DNA/MVA vaccine.

The solution aims to provide protective immune responses in HIV-infected individuals, with the study hoping to document the safety and immunogenicity of GeoVax's vaccine in HIV positive patients by using oral drug medication.

After vaccination, the trial will include a short period of drug-interruption in order to review the vaccine's ability to control the infection without benefiting from drug therapy.

As part of the work, priming will be undertaken with a recombinant DNA vaccine, before a recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara vaccine is used.

The vaccine regimen releases antiviral antibody that can block infection, while it can also distribute antiviral T cells to identify and kill infected cells.

The work is being undertaken at three different locations, the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, the Alabama Vaccine Research Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and the AIDS Research Alliance of Los Angeles.

Harriet Robinson, GeoVax’s chief scientific officer, said: "Our next step planned for our therapeutic vaccine development programme is a phase I clinical trial to investigate the use of our vaccine in combination with standard-of-care drug therapy in young adults. This trial will likely be conducted by the International Maternal Paediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trial Group (IMPAACT).

"One of the hopes for therapeutic vaccination is that combining a vaccine with drugs will allow the eradication of virus from an infected individual. Drugs primarily prevent infection whereas a vaccine can both block infection and kill infected cells."

HIV remains a large issue in the world of medicine, with 33 million people across the world currently infected.

Estimates suggest that there will be an extra 2.5 million infections this year, with someone in the US infected by HIV every 9 and a half minutes.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths