idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
A Swedish HIV vaccine study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet (KI), Karolinska University Hospital and the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI) has produced surprisingly good results. Over 90 per cent of the subjects in the phase 1 trials developed an immune response to HIV. "Never has such a good result been seen with a vaccine of this type," says Professor Eric Sandström, Chief Physician at Karolinska University Hospital.
A vaccine developed by SMI scientists has now undergone the first clinical study on healthy individuals in Sweden in order to examine its safety and different methods of administration. The vaccine is what is known as a genetic vaccine, which uses parts of the virus DNA to stimulate the rapid endogenous production of the proteins for which the injected DNA codes.
The trial subjects were vaccinated on three occasions with this vaccine using a needle-free method of injection. In order to enhance the effect, the researchers also gave the subjects a fourth dose of a vaccine in which parts of the HIV virus DNA had been integrated into another virus (vaccinia = the cowpox virus). This vaccine-based HIV vaccine is produced by the USA's National Institutes of Health and was donated for use in this Swedish study.
"Our vaccine is designed in such a way that it's able to protect against many of the circulating HIV types in Africa and the West," says Professor Britta Wahren at the SMI/KI.
Over 90 per cent of the trial subjects developed an immune response to HIV, and the vaccines have been tolerated well.
Data from the study will be presented at the four-day HIV vaccine conference in Amsterdam starting 29 August under the heading "Multigene, multiclade HIV-1 plasmid DNA prime and MVA boost is safe and highly immunogenic in healthy human volunteers".
Scientists now hope to follow up the Swedish study with a larger phase 1 - phase 2 study in Tanzania, planned to commence this autumn, in order to corroborate the Swedish results on African subjects and to help train Tanzanians to carry out parts of the study, including sophisticated laboratory examinations, on site.
The project is being led by KI professors Gunnel Biberfeld and Britta Wahren at the SMI and Eric Sandström at Karolinska University Hospital.
SMI has been running major projects in the HIV field since 1986 with the support of Sida/SAREC, the EU's 5th Framework Programme, the Swedish Research Council, Karolinska Institutet, and Karolinska University Hospital. Over the past few years, the projects have tended more and more towards developing a vaccine for the prevention of HIV.
Data from the study will be released at the conference presentation on 30 August.
For further information, please contact:
Gunnel Biberfeld, Professor of Immunology, SMI and KI
Phone: +46-8-457 26 60, +46-73-346 26 60
E-mail: gunnel.biberfeld@smi.ki.se
Eric Sandström, Professor of Dermatovenerology, Chief Physician at Karolinska University Hospital
Phone: +46-8-616 25 71, +46-70-484 60 37,
E-mail: eric.sandstrom@karolinska.se
Britta Wahren, Professor of Virology, SMI and KI
Phone:+46-8-457 26 30, +46-70-674 15 27,
E-mail: britta.wahren@smi.ki.se
Press contacts:
Aase Sten, SMI press officer
Phone: +46-8-457 23 32, +46-70-338 23 32
E-mail: aase.sten@smi.ki.se
Ulla Sörensen, press officer Karolinska University Hospital
Phone: 08-5858 06 81eller 070-484 00 55
E-mail: ulla.sorensen@karolinska.se
Katarina Sternudd, KI press officer
Phone: +46-8-524 838 95, +46-70-224 38 95
E-mail: katarina.sternudd@ki.se
Reference link:
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&l=en
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&l=en
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Ernährung / Gesundheit / Pflege, Medizin
überregional
Forschungsprojekte
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
