Just this week, the National Institutes of Health announced that yet another HIV vaccine candidate, which was aimed at producing non-neutralizing antibodies, failed to provide sufficient protection against HIV infection in women.
But the tide may be turning. IAVI and Scripps Research, along with Moderna and other partners, are about to launch a phase I clinical study that will assess the ability of mRNA vaccine candidate eOD-GT8 60 mer (mRNA-1644) and mRNA vaccine adjuvant (mRNA-166v2-Core) to safely generate broadly neutralizing antibodies in healthy adults. The study is set to begin recruiting participants the third week of September.
The process of targeting immature B cells with specific properties (that mature into cells capable of generating multiple broadly neutralizing antibodies) ) is called “germline targeting” and is intended to “prime” young B cells as part of a first step of an eventual multi-step vaccine strategy. The goal of the first study is to see how far down the path the initial immunogen goes and use the findings to define the steps needed to further refine the process of making broadly neutralizing antibodies.
PHYSIOHEALER. 