Two international HIV vaccine trials have been discontinued today due after an interim analysis this week indicated that the vaccine candidate was not effective in preventing transmission of the virus or in lowering the viral load of those infected.
The “STEP” study was designed by Merck and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) to test the efficacy of the MRK-Ad5 vaccine in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Puerto Rico and the United States.
Its companion, the “Phambili” study, had enrolled 799 individuals in South Africa to test the effectiveness of the Merck vaccine, and was funded by the HVTN and the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative. While the STEP study primarily enrolled men who had sex with men, the Phambili participants were mostly heterosexuals at high risk for HIV infection.
Enrollment and immunizations for both studies have been ceased. Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Coalition, says that the discontinuation of these studies is an unfortunate yet necessary step in creating a vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
“It must be seen for what it is: the failure of a product to show efficacy in a specific trial,” he says. “Clinical testing of AIDS vaccines is a scientific process, and, while this is a disappointment, it is in no way the end of the search for an AIDS vaccine.”
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
