Partnership launched to develop new AIDS vaccine

African and European researchers have joined forces to develop an AIDS vaccine to prevent infection with different strains of HIV worldwide.

Called the Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT), it will assess a vaccine that triggers the body to produce specialised immune cells – T cells.

Professor Tomáš Hanke, from the University of Oxford who is leading the project, said: “There is enormous variation between HIV strains worldwide, which as well as making treatment difficult, has also been an obstacle to developing a vaccine. By using small parts common to most HIVs, the vaccine if successful could be used around the world, especially in Africa which is most affected by the HIV pandemic.”

HIV which develops into AIDS, is one of the biggest diseases we currently face. At the end of 2015, there were approximately 37m people living with HV. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region with 25.6m people living with HIV.

The vaccine, tHIVconsvX, will be trialled at four sites in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Concurrently, alongside the vaccine testing, this project will also aim at new building programmes to prepare the researchers for large scale medical trials in future.

GREAT is funded by a 7.1m grant from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership (EDCTP), Oxford University and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Executive director of EDCTP, Dr Michael Makangq, said: “Despite remarkable advances in treatment and prevention, the AIDS epidemic is not over. Available prevention and treatment remain out of reach or challenging to adhere to, particularly in communities that are mobile or live in remote regions, as well as for people who fear stigma and discrimination. An effective vaccine could prevent the majority of new HIV infections.”