First Spanish HIV vaccine proves safe in phase I trials

The first Spanish prototype of a vaccine against HIV has proved to be safe in a small phase I trial conducted in healthy volunteers in Madrid and Barcelona. Although the first phase is intended only to test the safety of the compound, which is known as MVA-B, the study has also shown a good immunological response among the participants.

The vaccine uses a poxvirus (modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA)) as a vector to insert the combination of four HIV genes.

Thirty healthy volunteers participated in the new phase I clinical trial, named RISVAC02 (Vaccine doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.08.098. Twenty four received MVA-B (three injections in weeks 0, 4, and 16 of the trial) and the other six a placebo. …