MODERNA/IAVI STUDY

Jan. 29, 2022

The biotech firm Moderna has started trials on an mRNA vaccine against the HIV, which uses a novel approach to elicit broadly neutralising HIV-1 antibodies (bNAbs) and eventually target multiple HIV strains.

About:

  • First doses of the experimental HIV vaccine antigens were administered at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington DC this week.

  • The vaccine uses the same technology as Moderna’s Covid 19 vaccine. It uses mRNA, or messenger RNA, which teaches the body’s cells how to make proteins that trigger immune response.

  • BNAbs are produced by certain types of B cells, which are rare: one in 300,000 B cells have this capability. The vaccine aims to stimulate production of bnAbs that can act against many variants of HIV.

The trial

  • The MODERNA/IAVI study is a phase 1, randomised, first-in-human, open label study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccines, mRNA-1644 and mRNA-1644v2-Core, in HIV-uninfected individuals.

  • Fifty-six individuals will be randomised in four groups and safety/immunogenicity results will be available in 2023.