NIH-Sponsored HIV Vaccine Trial Launches in South Africa

NIH-Sponsored HIV Vaccine Trial Launches in South Africa

HVTN laboratory staff Nomzamo Tabata (left) and Owethu Mahali process specimens at The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa.
Credit: Brooke Auchincloss
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NIAID-Sponsored HIV Vaccine Trial Launches in South Africa

A clinical trial called HVTN 100 has launched in South Africa to study an investigational HIV vaccine regimen for safety and the immune responses it generates in study participants. This experimental vaccine regimen is based on the one tested in the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand—the first study to demonstrate that a vaccine can provide a level of protection against HIV infection. The HVTN 100 vaccine regimen was designed to provide greater protection than the RV144 regimen and has been adapted to the HIV subtype that predominates in southern Africa.