3 ms·
The graveyard of HIV vaccines that failed at Phase II is unfortunately large, and this isn't even there yet. I won't be holding my breath on this one. HIV is
by at_a_remove 5y ago
The graveyard of HIV vaccines that failed at Phase II is unfortunately large, and this isn't even there yet. I won't be holding my breath on this one. HIV is tricky.
- vibrio 5y agoI came here to say make this (lonely) comment. HIV and CoV are very different viruses. Different pathogenesis, different tropism, different social drivers for transmission... mRNA technology did well in 2020, but it was a very well-funded technology in clinical development for ~10 years before SARS-CoV2 arrived. HIV and Cancer are not low-hanging fruit. I wish them the best, as I hate both those diseases, but I'm not aware that there is anything in the technology that uniquely provides a solution to the problem.
- sterlind 5y agofrom what I've read, it's not really mRNA that gives Moderna any advantage, as much as being able to raise broadly-neutralizing antibodies (BNAbs) against HIV membrane protein. but.. it's still not a polyvalent vaccine, it's only targeting one such highly-conserved region, and there's HIV out there that evades BNAbs (5% of HIV+ patients have BNAbs after all, and they eventually progress.. though maybe after changing tropism or something.) so it may not be all that effective as a strategy, but there's at least some monkey data suggesting it delays or sometimes prevents infection. More info here: https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2020/hiv-vaccine-generates-broadly-neutralising-antibodies-passes-first-safety-and-proof https://www.aidsmap.com/news/mar-2020/hiv-vaccine-generates-...