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Moderna and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) administered the first doses of their experimental HIV vaccine on Thursday, marking the beginning of their clinical trial’s first phase.
The biotechnology company teamed up with the nonprofit to develop the new vaccine using so-called messenger RNA, the same novel technology used in making Moderna and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines. MRNA works by teaching human cells to produce proteins that trigger immune responses.
"We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform," said IAVI CEO Mark Feinberg in a statement announcing the program. "The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine."
This clinical phase aims to test if the vaccine candidate can induce a specific type of white blood cells, known as B-cells, and guide them to create antibodies that have shown in lab results to neutralize a broad range of HIV variants and protect humans against infection. Those proteins are "widely considered to be the goal of HIV vaccination, and this is the first step in that process,” according to Moderna.
The biotechnology company teamed up with the nonprofit to develop the new vaccine using so-called messenger RNA, the same novel technology used in making Moderna and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines. MRNA works by teaching human cells to produce proteins that trigger immune responses.
"We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform," said IAVI CEO Mark Feinberg in a statement announcing the program. "The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine."
This clinical phase aims to test if the vaccine candidate can induce a specific type of white blood cells, known as B-cells, and guide them to create antibodies that have shown in lab results to neutralize a broad range of HIV variants and protect humans against infection. Those proteins are "widely considered to be the goal of HIV vaccination, and this is the first step in that process,” according to Moderna.
Moderna Is Testing a Groundbreaking HIV Vaccine. Why This One Is Different
Moderna has launched a clinical trial of its HIV vaccine that was developed using the same novel technology as its successful COVID-19 vaccines.
www.nbcwashington.com