The first-in-human clinical trial of a new HIV vaccine was officially launched in Cape Town this week, marking a historic milestone for Africa. SA has an estimated 8-million people living with HIV, the most of any country in absolute numbers.

Adult HIV prevalence stands at 14.4%, compared with 28.3% in Eswatini, 26.2% in Lesotho, and 23.1% in Zimbabwe.

The study was launched at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation at Groote Schuur hospital, and has enrolled its first group of 20 HIV-negative volunteers who will help scientists assess the safety and immune response of the vaccine.

Lenacapavir, taken twice a year, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99%. This trial places Africa at the forefront of global HIV vaccine research.

“This is a first in humans, first in Africa study, and it’s what we call an HIV discovery programme where we are trying to induce neutralising antibodies in people who we vaccinate,” said Wits University leading health researcher Prof Glenda Gray.

“So, this is a very special combination and a special target of the HIV envelope with an adjuvant that’s designed to augment the immune response. And what we hope to do is teach the immune system to induce these body-neutralising antibodies.

“We need to understand whether we need to make a next-generation vaccine or whether the vaccine that we have is sufficient, and how we can augment this,” she said.

Approximately 40-million people worldwide are HIV positive, of whom almost a quarter live in South Africa and 43% in Southern Africa. About 1.3-million new cases are diagnosed each year.

The injection is administered under the skin every six months. Lenacapavir was shown in clinical trials to be safe and nearly 100% effective at preventing HIV.

“So this is the first study, it has 20 participants. If we find that the vaccine has a good immune response, we will then proceed to larger studies and hopefully augment the vaccination regimen,” said Gray.

“The approach we are using is both therapeutic and preventative, so we are hoping that these vaccines could be used in people living with HIV as a way to improve outcomes to make a functional cure or to help with individuals who struggle to take their medication.”

• Have a news tip to share? Phone or whatsapp the OFM News Hotline: 066 487 1427.

OFM News cvs