[Dean's World] Dave Schuler: AIDS Vaccine Continues to Elude Researchers

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Schuler:
AIDS Vaccine Continues to Elude Researchers
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1194098475.shtml


   [1]Merck has terminated the trials of its AIDS vaccine:

     This fall, pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. halted study of one of
     the most promising possibilities, a genetically engineered vaccine
     being tested on four continents, because it simply did not work.

     After this latest setback, and with billions of dollars spent on
     research over more than two decades, scientists say they do not
     know when -- if ever -- a vaccine will be available in the fight
     against one of the world's most devastating epidemics. The news has
     been nearly as bad for other technological solutions, including
     vaginal microbicides, one-a-day prevention pills and diaphragms.

     [...]

     Scientists first identified AIDS in 1981. Despite more than 150
     trials and steady flows of cash from the National Institutes of
     Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other major
     donors, there are few promising vaccine candidates, scientists say.
     The most anticipated, developed by NIH scientists, somewhat
     resembles the Merck vaccine and is due to enter trials soon.

   Not only did the vaccine not prevent AIDS, it may have caused AIDS in
   some of those who received it:

     Among a group of nearly 700 subjects worldwide who received two
     doses of the vaccine, 19 became infected with HIV, compared with 11
     for a similarly sized group that received placebos. The finding
     alarmed some scientists and underscored the tricky ethics of using
     human subjects to test potential remedies for incurable diseases.

References

   1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103102919.html?hpid=moreheadlines