Europe-Africa research partnership launches HIV vaccine clinical trial in three African countries

The first volunteers have been vaccinated in Lusaka, Zambia, in a Phase I HIV vaccine trial led by a consortium of researchers in Africa and Europe. The trial, known as HIV-CORE 006, will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an HIV vaccine candidate known as HIVconsvX. This novel vaccine construct comprises three immunogens that target vulnerable regions common across most HIV variants. Studies using an earlier version of HIVconsvX showed that the most vulnerable parts of HIV neglected by the immune system during natural infection can induce robust immune responses¹.

HIV-CORE 006 builds on extensive research expertise, infrastructure, and community engagement programs within IAVI’s network of Africa clinical research center (CRC) partners. The following CRCs are GREAT consortium members and will participate in HIV-CORE 006:

• Uganda: MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit
• Kenya: KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research; KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme
• Zambia: Center for Family Health Research Zambia

The trial is sponsored by the Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT)² consortium and is supported by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), with co-funding from IAVI and Oxford University.

IAVI’s contributions to GREAT are made possible by the support of the American People through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this study are the sole responsibility of the trial sponsor and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views of PEPFAR, USAID, or the United States Government.

Read more on the GREAT website.

References

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14760584.2019.1675518

2. GREAT is a collaboration with Oxford University, IAVI, Imperial College London, KAVI-Institute of Clinical Research at the University of Nairobi, the Uganda Virus Research Institute-IAVI HIV Vaccine Program, the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, the Kenya Medical Research Institute-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, and the Center for Family Health Research Zambia.