A new vaccine against HIV may work for some patients, who can be identified by a particular chemical, it was announced today.
The findings offer hope that some people with HIV could be treated with occasional vaccinations rather than daily drugs.
British researchers have found the vaccine halves the amount of virus circulating in the body – but only in some patients.
These patients are identified by high levels of a biomarker circulating in the body, the researchers are set to tell an international conference.
The findings of the research into the Norwegian-developed vaccine, Vacc-4x, were being reported at the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne, Australia.
Researcher Professor Angus Dalgleish, of St George’s, University of London, said: “In spite of very effective drugs against HIV these need to be taken daily and have significant side-effects.
"The ability to replace this daily medication with a vaccine that allows several months of being off medication, not to mention the enormous financial gains that would be delivered to health services, is a step closer with these preliminary results."
Leave a Reply