A large-scale clinical trial of a candidate HIV vaccine?hich previously showed promise in smaller studies in the United States and elsewhere?as now opened in South Africa. The study plans to enroll up to 3,000 HIV-negative men and women, making it the largest African HIV vaccine trial to date. Conducted jointly by the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI) and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the trial is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study vaccine, provided by Merck & Co. Inc. (Whitehouse Station, NJ), contains copies of only three HIV genes, not the entire virus, so it is impossible for a trial volunteer to become infected from the vaccine. >>> Discuss This Story
