Moderna begins human trials of HIV vaccine

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – U.S. laboratory Moderna on Thursday, August 19, began testing an HIV vaccine based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, the same type as the anti-Covid vaccine.

Phase 1 human trials, formally published in the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) registry, will involve 56 people aged 18 to 50 who are not virus carriers. Like any early trial, the study aims to verify the immune response and its safety for use.

It will be administered in two versions: half of the group will be given two equal doses of the mRNA-1644 immunizer, and the other half will be given two different versions (mRNA-1644 and mRNA-1644v2). This first phase should run for about 10 months.

Should this first stage succeed, two more will be necessary for health agencies to approve its application in humans: the second, which will analyze the body’s defense response and safety, and the third, a broader one, which tests the real efficacy of the doses.

Unlike “traditional” vaccines, which use parts of the virus or the inactivated virus, vaccines with messenger RNA technology “teach” the body’s cells to produce antigen against the virus.

Studies with this technology, which began in the early 1990s, gained billion-dollar financial investments because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consequently, both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine against the disease were approved at the end of 2020 in the United States.

After over 40 years of recorded HIV cases, the human immunodeficiency virus, investments to develop a vaccine against the disease that causes AIDS and attacks the entire immune system have been lower – and many trials failed to go ahead.

But as a consequence of the incentive to develop vaccines for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, HIV is back in the spotlight. A study started in July this year aims to test a new vaccine in over 6,000 people in Africa, the Americas (including Brazil), and Europe. It uses the traditional method with a vector, called “adenovirus 26,” which is harmless to humans. In this case, there will be 4 doses of immunizers.