Biotech Company to Conduct Human Tests of New HIV Vaccine

Atlanta, Georgia based biotech company, GeoVax Labs Inc. will begin human trials of its new HIV vaccine this fall. The company, associated with Emory University has already tested the vaccine in monkeys infected with HIV and the results are encouraging. The company is hoping the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve a Phase II trial to start in the fall. In animal trials two monkeys were infected with SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), a virus very similar to HIV, and at 12 weeks, were given conventional anti-viral drug therapy. Six weeks later the HIV medications were stopped and the monkeys were given the new experimental virus. The vaccine controlled the HIV even without HIV medications. GeoVax hopes to get FDA approval in order to further test the safety and immunogenicity of the preventative vaccine. Read more in this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Related Information

• Challenges of Vaccine Development

• Two Types of HIV Vaccine

• HIV Vaccine - Are We Any Closer