American Scientists Successfully Conduct Clinical Trials of HIV/AIDS Vaccine, Offering Hope for Treatment of the AIDS Epidemic
On September 23, American researchers announced that clinical trials of the HIV/AIDS vaccine MRKAd5 (developed by the American pharmaceutical company Merck & Co) generated a surprisingly strong immune response. This was evidenced by a 50 to 100-fold increase in the number of white blood cells that destroy the HIV virus in participants. This immune response is comparable to that elicited by vaccines for smallpox and measles. This news is a significant relief for people worldwide and experts in the field. Following this unexpected success, researchers have decided to double the number of volunteers participating in the MRKAd5 vaccine trial to 3,000 individuals to gain a clearer understanding of the immune response to the MRKAd5 vaccine.
The MRKAd5 vaccine utilizes genes from HIV strains found in North and South America but will be expanded to include strains of HIV from around the world. This vaccine will be developed at the Vaccine Research Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
