Meet Jim Higginbotham, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of  Jim Higginbotham, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Jim is one of five new bios posted last week.




Jim Higginbotham
Birmingham, Alabama, USA

"I must continue to inspire others, especially the younger generation to carry the torch until the end of HIV."

Jim is the Community Educator for HIV Vaccines at the University of Alabama Birmingham - a site for a number of biomedical HIV prevention trials. He loves helping his community in the fight against HIV through education and counseling. During his spare time, Jim enjoys spending time at his family farm, kayaking, hiking, and camping.

Jim initially became involved with IRMA while attending Microbicide Trials Network meetings and conferences. He recruited men to participate in MTN 007, which was a rectal microbicide study that included the University of Alabama clinical research site. Jim believes that a combination of prevention strategies must be utilized to reduce the number of infections that continue to occur in the United States and around the world and asserts that "a rectal microbicide, marketed as a lubricant, could help achieve that goal because it would, in my opinion, be embraced by individuals who engage in anal sex as an easy way to protect themselves."

Jim advises IRMA to keep up the good work in helping to educate the community on the need for rectal microbicides. Currently, Jim is recruiting and screening individuals for the HVTN 505, a vaccine study.

Jim has lost many friends to HIV/AIDS... a loss which continues to inspire his involvement in the fight for prevention and treatments. Jim is the sole survivor of his original peer group of friends from his early twenties.

"If I had to point to one individual as an inspiration, I would have to say that person is Butch McKay, a great friend and tireless advocate for the community in the fight against HIV. Butch has inspired me more than anyone to do the work that I do."

Thank you, Jim, for all that you do!

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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Meet Robert, A Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate

Check out this interesting mini-bio of  Robert Bucklew, the latest in IRMA's "Meet a Friendly Rectal Microbicide Advocate" series on the IRMA website here.  Robert is one of five new bios posted October 30, 2012.



Robert Bucklew
Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Robert is the Outreach Coordinator for the Case Western Reserve University AIDS Clinical Trial Unit. He works on a variety of HIV-related research issues, including treatment trials, microbicides, preventative vaccines and PrEP. Outside of work, Robert loves creating art.

Robert first got involved with IRMA through both Jim Pickett (IRMA chair) and his professional connection to the Microbicide Trials Network. He considers rectal microbicides to be of utmost importance in the field of biomedical HIV prevention, and think they will be especially effective if considered sex positive, and serve to enhance sexual pleasure as well as sexual health.

Currently, he is working to enroll gay and bisexual men and transgender women into a preventative HIV vaccine trial, HVTN 505. Additionally, he is working on a new PrEP trial, called HPTN 069. His efforts focus on populations at highest risk, where there is clear need for new prevention strategies.

Robert has been greatly influenced by the late Eric Rofes, whom he met at a Gay Men's Health Summit. He was enlightened by Eric's holistic, assets-based approach to gay male sexuality, both personally and professionally. Today, he considers himself a better man because of Eric's outlook.

Thank you, Robert, for all that you do!

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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

 *Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.

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Sustainable HIV prevention possibilities present choices, challenges

via Science Speaks, by Antigone Barton

When he looks at what biomedical science can do in the next decade to prevent HIV transmission, Jim Turpin of the National Institutes of Health said, he thinks of the lyrics of a Timbuk3 song: “The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades.”

By, which, actually, he means — don’t get blinded by the light; the search for answers will require focus.
“The challenge is not the lack of options,” he said, “but prioritizing the best options.”

Turpin, program officer and branch chief in the Prevention Sciences Program in the Division of AIDS at NIH”s  National Institute of Allergy and Infection Disease spoke this morning in webinar titled “The HIV Prevention Pipeline: A Future of Possibilities.” The webinar was sponsored by the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) and AVAC Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention.

After a series of disappointments in the quest for a vaccine or microbicide to prevent HIV transmission, the last two years offered hope, in strategies using antiretroviral medicine to prevent acquiring HIV, organizers point out. But, with a diversity of prevention needs and challenges among women and men worldwide still demanding answers, is that all there is?

Or, as Turpin put it, “Do we currently have what it takes to create a sustainable prevention pipeline?”

Read the rest.


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*Join IRMA's robust, highly-active. moderated, global listserv addressing rectal microbicide research and advocacy as well as other interesting new HIV prevention technologies by contacting us at rectalmicro@gmail.com. Joining our listserv automatically makes you a member of IRMA - a network of more than 1,100 advocates, scientists, policy makers and funders from all over the world.

*Please look for us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/InternationalRectalMicrobicideAdvocates, and you can follow us on Twitter: @rectalmicro.

*Also, please note that shared news items from other sources posted on this blog do not necessarily mean IRMA has taken any position on the article's content.
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HPV Vaccine against Anal HPV Infection and Anal Intraepithelial Neoplasia

via The New England Journal of Medicine, by Joel M. Palefsky, M.D., Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D., Stephen Goldstone, M.D., Edson D. Moreira, Jr., M.D., Carlos Aranda, M.D., Heiko Jessen, M.D., Richard Hillman, M.D., Daron Ferris, M.D., Francois Coutlee, M.D., Mark H. Stoler, M.D., J. Brooke Marshall, Ph.D., David Radley, M.S., Scott Vuocolo, Ph.D., Richard M. Haupt, M.D., M.P.H.

Background

The rate of anal cancer is increasing among both women and men, particularly men who have sex with men. Caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), primarily HPV type 16 or 18, anal cancer is preceded by high-grade anal intraepithelial neoplasia (grade 2 or 3). We studied the safety and efficacy of quadrivalent HPV vaccine (qHPV) against anal intraepithelial neoplasia associated with HPV-6,11, 16, or 18 infection in men who have sex with men.

Methods

In a substudy of a larger double-blind study, we randomly assigned 602 healthy men who have sex with men, 16 to 26 years of age, to receive either qHPV or placebo. The primary efficacy objective was prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia or anal cancer related to infection with HPV-6, 11, 16, or 18. Efficacy analyses were performed in intention-totreat and per-protocol efficacy populations. The rates of adverse events were documented.

Results

Efficacy of the qHPV vaccine against anal intraepithelial neoplasia associated with HPV-6, 11, 16, or 18 was 50.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 25.7 to 67.2) in the intention-to-treat population and 77.5% (95% CI, 39.6 to 93.3) in the per-protocol efficacy population; the corresponding efficacies against anal intraepithelial neoplasia associated with HPV of any type were 25.7% (95% CI, −1.1 to 45.6) and 54.9% (95% CI, 8.4 to 79.1), respectively. Rates of anal intraepithelial neoplasia per 100 person-years were 17.5 in the placebo group and 13.0 in the vaccine group in the intention-to-treat population and 8.9 in the placebo group and 4.0 in the vaccine group in the per-protocol efficacy population. The rate of grade 2 or 3 anal intraepithelial neoplasia related to infection with HPV-6, 11, 16, or 18 was reduced by 54.2% (95% CI, 18.0 to 75.3) in the intention-to-treat population and by 74.9% (95% CI, 8.8 to 95.4) in the per-protocol efficacy population. The corresponding risks of persistent anal infection with HPV-6, 11, 16, or 18 were reduced by 59.4% (95% CI, 43.0 to 71.4) and 94.9% (95% CI, 80.4 to 99.4), respectively. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported.

Conclusions

Use of the qHPV vaccine reduced the rates of anal intraepithelial neoplasia, including of grade 2 or 3, among men who have sex with men. The vaccine had a favorable safety profile and may help to reduce the risk of anal cancer. (Funded by Merck and the National Institutes of Health; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00090285.)

Read the full study here.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Panel Endorses HPV Vaccine for Boys of 11

via The New York Times, by Gardiner Harris

Boys and young men should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, to protect against anal and throat cancers that can result from sexual activity, a federal advisory committee said Tuesday.

The recommendation by the panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is likely to transform the use of the HPV vaccine, since most private insurers pay for vaccines once the committee recommends them for routine use. The HPV vaccine is unusually expensive. Its three doses cost pediatricians more than $300, and pediatricians often charge patients hundreds more.

The committee recommended that boys ages 11 and 12 should be vaccinated. It also recommended vaccination of males ages 13 through 21 who had not already had all three shots. Vaccinations may be given to boys as young as 9 and to men between the ages of 22 and 26.

The committee recommended in 2006 that girls and young women ages 11 to 26 should be vaccinated, but vaccination rates in the United States have so far been disappointing.

Read the rest.



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Whatever Happened to the AIDS Vaccine?

via the Huffington Post, by Michael Warren

"Now is exactly the time to maintain commitment. Now is exactly the time to hold a steady course in funding for basic science, clinical trials and product development. It's good business sense: Our investments are paying off -- and the dividend, in the form of an effective vaccine, would have value beyond our wildest dreams."

Recent news about HIV/AIDS has focused on the good -- promising trial results that prove the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs used to treat HIV can also prevent HIV infections -- and the bad -- retreats in donor commitment that imperil the substantial gains that have been made in treating global AIDS, at the precise moment that treatment has been recognized as a powerful prevention strategy. In discussions about whether AIDS treatment can be used to end the AIDS epidemic, scant attention is paid to the search for an AIDS vaccine.

When AIDS vaccines do get mentioned, it is often in the context of questions about whether a vaccine is still needed, or whether the search for an AIDS vaccine is affordable in today's economic climate.

Researchers and advocates who gathered Sept. 12-15 in Bangkok, Thailand, for the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference have clear answers: Yes, we still need a vaccine, and yes, we need to continue to invest in AIDS vaccine research.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Treatment and Prevention: Interview w/Uganda's Dr. Patrick Ndase

via The Observer, by Shifa Mwesigye

Excerpt:

"Uganda has participated just like several other African countries; [in research] you must go where infection is happening. The majority of HIV research in the early stages happened in Uganda because Uganda was heavily infested with the virus. As you remember we had prevalence rates of above 20% and then we had the so called Uganda success story after the zero grazing campaign.

"At the time, the countries in southern Africa which largely [depend on] tourism were silent on HIV infection. Now the countries that are laden with infection are Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa. So majority of HIV prevention research is not happening in Uganda anymore. In fact it is difficult to get someone who wants to do HIV research to come to Uganda."

Read the rest.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

HPV Vaccine Protects Women Against Anal Infection

via Medpage Today

A vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) protects women against two strains of the virus that causes anal cancer, researchers reported.

The vaccine (Cervarix) against HPV strains 16 and 18 offered "strong protection" against anal infection in a study whose main goal was to assess the efficacy of vaccination against cervical infection and pre-cancerous lesions, according to Aimée Kreimer, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues.

The protection was higher in women who did not have HPV infection when they were first given the vaccine, Kreimer and colleagues reported online in The Lancet Oncology.

Anal cancer is rare in women, with an annual incidence of about 1.5 per 100,000, but rates are rising, the researchers noted. The rate is higher than for men in general, but markedly lower than for men who have sex with men or those with HIV.

Most anal cancers are caused by HPV, with strains 16 and 18 responsible for up to 80% of cases, Kreimer and colleagues noted.

They tested the vaccine against anal infection in a subgroup of young adult women, ages 18 through 25, who enrolled in a community-based randomized trial of cervical vaccine efficacy in Costa Rica.

The 6,352 participants who came for the final blinded study visit, four years after their first of three vaccine shots, were asked to give an anal sample, and 4,210 did so, with a median follow-up of 48.1 months.

The researchers analyzed anal infection in the whole cohort and also in a subgroup of women who had been negative for HPV DNA and antibodies at the start of the trial. Patient characteristics in both groups were well-balanced, the researchers reported, including the proportions who got the vaccine and those who were in the control group, given hepatitis A vaccine.

Kreimer and colleagues found...

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Why the CIA's Vaccine Ruse Is A Setback for Global Health

Via TIME, by Emily Rauhala.

Last week, the Guardian broke the news that in the run-up to the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, the CIA used a vaccination campaign as a ruse to get DNA evidence from the al-Qaeda leader's kids. With help from a Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, they set up clinics in two neighborhoods, delivering doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine to local children. The revelation drew a quick and angry response from health experts. Medecins Sans Frontieres called the operation "a dangerous abuse of medical care." In the Washington Post, Orin Levine and Laurie Garrett warned that the CIA's "reckless tactics could have catastrophic consequences."

Indeed, they may. Here are three reasons why this is bad news for public health:

1. Broken Trust

When people don't trust medical personnel, they're less likely to participate in legitimate public health campaigns. Eight years ago, rumors spread that an anti-polio campaign in Nigeria was an American plot to sterilize Muslim girls, causing many families to refuse the vaccine. The subsequent outbreak spread to eight countries.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Investment in HIV Prevention Research

A report released yesterday by HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group at the IAS conference in Rome "found that overall investment in HIV prevention R&D had actually increased, with the modest exception of a one percent decline in vaccine R&D. The report documented a total US$1.19 billion investment in research and development (R&D) for four key HIV prevention options: preventive vaccines, microbicides, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) using antiretroviral drugs, and operations research related to medical male circumcision.":

"2010 has been a year of retrospection, a time for looking back over the 30 years since the first published report of the mysterious illness that would come to be known as AIDS. As sobering as this anniversary has been, it has also been a time for some optimism and calls to end the epidemic. These calls may not be simply wishful thinking, fueled as they have been by promising research results over the past two years in vaccines, microbicides, pre-exposure prophylaxis using antiretrovirals (PrEP), and antiretroviral treatment as prevention—results that have energized the entire HIV prevention field.

The first good news came at the end of 2009, when researchers in the RV 144 Thai vaccine trial reported that a vaccine combination had reduced risk of infection by 31 percent—the first clinical evidence that a preventive AIDS vaccine would be possible. Then, in July 2010, the CAPRISA 004 trial team announced its findings–that use of 1% tenofovir (TDF, also known as Viread®) vaginal gel reduced women’s risk of HIV infection by 39 percent—providing the first proof that a microbicide would be possible. This news was followed in November 2010 by the announcement from the iPrEx trial team that daily oral tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC, also known as Truvada®) had reduced risk of HIV infection by an estimated 44 percent overall in men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women, and proved for the first time that HIV prevention using PrEP would be possible. And finally, in early 2011, the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 trial established that use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) by HIV-positive individuals reduced transmission to their partners"

Source: HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

HIV Vaccine News

Recently, two new discoveries which may eventually lead to a vaccine for AIDS have been made by researchers. One, being presented at the IAS Conference in Rome this week, comes from the Maryland-based VirxSys Corporation. Researchers injected non-human primates with an altered form of SIV, the primate equivalent to HIV.

(Via CNN) Over the course of six months, five infected monkeys were injected with the vaccine three times, while five others were given a placebo vaccine. After 18 months, it was found that 40% of the vaccinated monkeys had very low to undetectable amounts of virus in their bodies.

“We are well on the path to a functional cure, at least in monkeys,” says Laurent Humeau, VirxSys vice president of research and development.

“Although this pre-clinical study is modest in terms of size, it is highly unusual to see near non-detectable levels of the virus not only circulating in the blood, but also in the reservoirs where HIV is known to replicate,” said Joep Lange, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, and head of the Amsterdam Institute of Global Health and Development.

In the monkeys, the vaccine’s effect was sustained two years after the initial vaccination, without the need for any booster shots.

Other researchers have created similar type therapeutic vaccines. In May, Dr. Louis Picker of the Oregon Health and Science University’s Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute announced a vaccine successful in preventing monkeys from acquiring SIV. Like the VirxSys vaccine, this was a genetically altered virus. In this case, the altered virus was CMV, from the herpes family.

But making the leap from monkeys to humans is a big step. Therapeutic vaccines "have looked really good in monkeys – but monkeys are not people and SIV is not HIV," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. "Really good concepts in primates have been duds in people.”


The other study, published last week, focused on antibodies which, if harnessed, could help the human body fight the HIV virus:

(Via US News) Researchers report that they've gained insight into the workings of the immune system's response to HIV, the AIDS virus, in certain people, potentially providing a boost as scientists work toward a vaccine.

The findings won't have an immediate big impact on either vaccine research or HIV treatment. However, they do reveal how soldiers of the immune system known as antibodies use special powers to combat the virus in some patients, said study co-author Dr. Michel C. Nussenzweig, a professor of immunology at The Rockefeller University in New York City.

Ultimately, he said, scientists could develop a vaccine that teaches people's bodies how to make the antibodies. "You'd try to make them do it themselves," he said, instead of pumping antibodies into the body.

Since the late 1990s, AIDS has largely become a treatable, chronic disease. But it can still be deadly, and many scientists think they're years away from developing a vaccine to prevent people from becoming infected in the first place.

In the new study, published online July 14 in Science, researchers focused on antibodies that are produced only in certain patients with HIV. They work by preventing the virus from picking the locks in cells that are supposed to keep germs out.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

HIV Envelope Discovery Could Reveal New Vaccine Targets

Via hivandhepatitis.com

An international study headed by a UC Davis scientist describes how a component of a potential HIV vaccine opens like a flower, undergoing one of the most dramatic protein rearrangements yet observed in nature.

The finding could reveal new targets for vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. A paper describing the work was published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the new study, researchers from the U.S., Sweden and France explored the structure and behavior of the HIV envelope protein complex, which could potentially serve as a component of a vaccine aimed at eliciting the human immune system to generate antibodies against HIV.

"By opening up these less exposed regions, we might be able to raise more broadly cross-reactive antibodies to HIV," said R. Holland Cheng, professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis and senior author of the study.

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Anal HPV Infection in HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men from China

via PLoS One

Lei Gao, et. al


Background

Anal HPV infection, which contributes to the development of anal warts and anal cancer, is well known to be common among men who have sex with men (MSM), especially among those HIV positives. However, HIV and anal HPV co-infection among MSM has not been addressed in China.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Beijing and Tianjin, China. Study participants were recruited using multiple methods with the collaboration of local volunteer organizations. Blood and anal swabs were collected for HIV-1 serological test and HPV genotyping.

Results

A total of 602 MSM were recruited and laboratory data were available for 578 of them (96.0%). HIV and anal HPV prevalence were 8.5% and 62.1%, respectively. And 48 MSM (8.3%) were found to be co-infected. The HPV genotypes identified most frequently were HPV06 (19.6%), HPV16 (13.0%), HPV52 (8.5%) and HPV11 (7.6%). Different modes of HPV genotypes distribution were observed with respect to HIV status. A strong dose-response relationship was found between HIV seropositivity and multiplicity of HPV genotypes (p<0.001), which is consistent with the observation that anal HPV infection was an independent predictor for HIV infection.

Conclusions

A high prevalence of HIV and anal HPV co-infection was observed in the MSM community in Beijing and Tianjin, China. Anal HPV infection was found to be independently associated with increased HIV seropositivity, which suggests the application of HPV vaccine might be a potential strategy to reduce the acquisition of HIV infection though controlling the prevalence of HPV.


Read the full paper.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

FDA Panel Recommends HPV Vaccine to Prevent Anal Cancer

via Medscape, by Emma Hitt, PhD

Human papillomavirus (HPV) quadrivalent (types 6, 11, 16, and 18) vaccine, recombinant (Gardasil; Merck), was recommended for an expanded indication — prevention of anal cancer in males and females ages 9 through 26 years — at a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel meeting yesterday.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee mulled over the recent data to consider the expanded indication.

Panelists were asked to comment on 2 discussion topics: the strength of the data to support an indication for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) and anal cancer in males and the scientific rationale for extrapolating efficacy in the prevention of AIN and anal cancer to females.

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

AIDS Vaccines and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: Is Synergy Possible?

Source

Authors: Excler JL (IAVI), Rida W, Priddy FH( IAVI), Gilmour J (IAVI), McDermott AB (IAVI), Kamali A, Anzala O, Mutua G, Sanders EJ, Koff W (IAVI), Berkley S (IAVI), Fast PE (IAVI).

ABSTRACT: While the long-term goal is to develop highly effective AIDS vaccines, first generation vaccines may be only partially effective. Other HIV prevention modalities such as pre-exposure prophylaxis with antiretrovirals (PrEP) may have limited efficacy as well. The combined administration of vaccine and PrEP (VAXPREP), however, may have a synergistic effect leading to an overall benefit that is greater than the sum of the individual effects. We propose two test-of-concept trial designs for an AIDS vaccine plus oral or topical ARV. In one design, evidence that PrEP reduces the risk of HIV acquisition is assumed to justify offering it to all participants. A two-arm study comparing PrEP alone to VAXPREP is proposed in which 30 to 60 incident infections are observed to assess the additional benefit of vaccination on risk of infection and setpoint viral load. The demonstrated superiority of VAXPREP does not imply vaccine alone is efficacious. Similarly, the lack of superiority does not imply vaccine alone is ineffective, as antagonism could exist between vaccine and PrEP. In the other design, PrEP is assumed not to be in general use. A 2x2 factorial design is proposed in which high-risk individuals are randomized to one of 4 arms: placebo vaccine given with placebo PrEP, placebo vaccine given with PrEP, vaccine given with placebo PrEP, or VAXPREP. Between 60 and 210 infections are required to detect a benefit of vaccination with or without PrEP on risk of HIV acquisition or setpoint viral load, with fewer infections needed when synergy is present.


Read the full article (proof)

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Consortium assembled to design human trials of mosaic HIV vaccine

From EurekAlert.org

Duke University Medical Center vaccine experts have assembled an international team of investigators to design and implement the first human trial of a mosaic HIV vaccine candidate, a novel strategy that attempts to counter one of the most daunting challenges in HIV vaccine design: the virus's extensive genetic diversity.
Traditional HIV vaccines are designed to stimulate the body's immune system to recognize naturally occurring stretches of specific amino acids in the virus's proteins. In contrast, mosaic vaccines are composed of many sets of synthetic, computer-generated sequences of proteins that can prompt the immune system to respond to a wide variety of circulating HIV strains.
Such vaccines have already been studied in animals and have shown some success in enhancing the breadth of immune responses. Now, Barton Haynes, MD, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), says a newly formed research coalition has begun designing an early phase safety trial to assess mosaic vaccines in humans. The trial will test the mosaic concept and could possibly lead to the next generation of HIV vaccine candidates.

Read the rest

Can We Ever Cure HIV?

from Medscape

An interesting Medscape HIV interview and conversation between two scholars, Dr. Paul Sax, Clinical Director of the HIV Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston and the Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and one of his colleagues, Dr. Dan Kuritzkes, professor at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School and also Director of AIDS Research.

Different Strategies are proposed for finding a cure:

• Purging the reservoir by activation with the potential of unwanted consequences of immune activation
• Silencing the virus so it could never turn on again
• Bone marrow transplantation
  

Sign up for Medscape to watch the video or read the text of the interview

AIDS VACCINE 2010, The only conference dedicated to HIV vaccine research, in Atlanta

from GLT News Now

Advances in the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine will be the focus of nearly 1,100 researchers, funders, policy makers and advocates from around the world gathered in Atlanta for AIDS Vaccine 2010. The conference, the world’s only scientific meeting on HIV vaccine research, will run through 1 October and include more than 500 scientific presentations detailing progress and challenges in the field.

AIDS Vaccine 2010 follows closely on the publication in Nature Medicine of the, Scientific Strategic Plan of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise a comprehensive new framework to speed and enhance HIV vaccine research developed with the participation of hundreds of scientists, policy-makers, funders and advocates worldwide. The new strategic plan, which includes recommendations to speed the development, execution and analysis of HIV vaccine trials; better integrate pre-clinical and clinical research; capitalize on scientific advances from other fields; and bring new researchers and new funders to HIV vaccine research, will be the focus of a special session at AIDS Vaccine 2010 on 29 September.

Watch webcasts of key sessions and press conferences from AIDS Vaccine 2010

Read more

Bolstering the Search for HIV Vaccine

Via All Africa, by Khopotso Bodibe

Intensifying their search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection, scientists are planning to run an improved version of the successful Thai HIV vaccine trial in South Africa next year.

News from Thailand late last year that a vaccine trial conducted among 16 000 Thais gave a 31% protection rate against HIV infection has given scientists hope that their quest to find a vaccine to prevent HIV infection is on the horizon. But further tests are needed and South Africa is an obvious place for these to be run, given our high HIV rate.

"There was a clinical trial that was done in Thailand and the results were reported in October last year that, for the first time, showed a hint that we'll be able to protect people from HIV by vaccination. We're really building on those findings and there are big plans to repeat those trials, both in South Africa and elsewhere, and, of course, improve on those, but to really see whether these first signs are really something that we can use to make a better vaccine", explained Lynn Morris, a Wits University professor and researcher for the National Institutes of Communicable Diseases (NICD), adding that "the Thai trial showed that the vaccine in question had a protective rate of 31%".

For more click here.

BE HEARD! - Presentations Now Available from AIDS 2010 Event

Condoms Aren’t Enough! 
Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex? 
Click 'n Learn right here!

More than 100 of the world's top experts on human rights and HIV among sexual minorities led presentations and workshops in Vienna on July 17 at BE HEARD, an all-day conference event that addressed soaring global rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM). The event preceded the launch of AIDS 2010, the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) and had nearly 600 participants.

IRMA was an event sponsor and Steering Committee members Ian McGowan, Jorge Sanchez, Roger Tatoud and Jim Pickett led a 2-hour session with other top researchers including Drs.Gaudensia  Mutua, Jorge Saavedra and Patrick Wilson called "Condoms Aren’t Enough! Will Pills and Lubes Define the Future Of Sex? An Overview of New HIV Prevention Tools in Development."

Below are 5 of the presentations - please give each of them a click and learn. The first - directly below - begins with Dr. Mutua's talk - "Basic Concepts about AIDS Vaccine Research."

 

Hosted by the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), BE HEARD focused on challenges and solutions to achieving universal access to HIV-related prevention, care, treatment, and support services for sexual minority communities worldwide.