HIV Vaccine and Passive Immunity Trials

Abstract

Despite a trend of declining HIV incidence rates, up to 2 million people continue to become newly infected with HIV every year. Antiretroviral-based interventions offer optimism to achieve epidemic control, but a vaccine is needed to eliminate HIV. The path to a vaccine remains elusive because of unique features of the virus, including its ability to attack vital parts of the immune system, its high mutation rate and a little understanding on what protects a human, due to a lack of examples of a natural cure. This chapter reviews CAPRISA’s contribution to HIV vaccine research over the past decade focusing on CAPRISA’s involvement in the National Institute of Health-funded HIV Vaccine Trial Network (HVTN) Phambili trial, the first phase IIb HIV vaccine study conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, and lessons learnt during its premature closure. We then discuss ongoing Vanguard vaccine studies in preparation for the next generation of efficacy trials that CAPRISA is participating in sponsored by HVTN and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. We conclude with a synopsis of CAPRISA’s contributions to passive immunisation studies for HIV prevention.