More than 150,000 people are affected by the AIDS, of which nearly 40,000 are unaware. While antiretroviral therapy can prolong the life of patients, it cannot cure them. For this reason, the medical community continues its work of research. Today, it is the Vaccine Research Institute (VRI) and the National Agency for AIDS and Hepatitis Research in France (ANRS) which are launching a new try vaccine and, at the same time, launched a campaign to recruit 100 volunteers.
“This trial should allow us to go faster, further, and probably save up to 5 years in the search for a preventive vaccine against HIV”, says Professor Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, head of the research department. clinic at VRI. The aim of the trial is to test the ability of three vaccines to stimulate the human body’s immune defenses against HIV. The researchers plan to simultaneously assess the immune system response of these three vaccines by combining them two by two, for a total of four combinations, to quickly determine which is best.
One group for each combination
“This method makes it possible to optimize the effectiveness of candidate vaccines: the first stimulates the immune defenses, the second then intervenes to maintain and strengthen these defenses”, explains the VRI. The combinations inducing the strongest immune stimuli will be selected for the development of a future vaccine. To participate in this trial, volunteers must be between 21 and 50 years of age, not infected with HIV and at low risk of infection, be in good health, use effective contraception throughout the trial and, for women, not be pregnant . The trial will take place in hospitals in Paris, Créteil, Marseille and Saint-Etienne.
The 100 volunteers will be divided into four groups, one for each combination tested. The participation, which lasts one year, will be punctuated by individual and regular visits to the doctor, which can last between one and three hours. And, finally, compensation of € 80 per visit will be paid to the volunteer, for a total ranging from € 800 to € 960, depending on the allocation group, for the entire trial. “The various vaccines tested do not contain infecting viral particles. You have no risk of being contaminated by the AIDS virus,” recalls the Research Institute.
