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Vaccine Research Studies
Maiteko a Tshireletso Vaccine Preparedness Study
The vaccine initiative will include a number of vaccine studies, beginning with a vaccine preparedness study (VPS). The VPS is designed to evaluate the site’s ability to recruit and retain individuals at risk for HIV infection, provide responsible and comprehensive HIV counseling and testing for study volunteers, evaluate changes in HIV risk behaviors over time, and assess HIV incidence over time. Results from the VPS will guide investigators in the appropriate design of future vaccine trials and other preventive interventions, and will provide researchers and public health officials with valuable information about the demographic characteristics and HIV risk behaviors of the sample population, in addition to important data on the incidence of HIV and the prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections in Botswana. Such information can inform efforts to improve health care and health education in Botswana and to allocate resources where most needed.
Substudies of the VPS will include an assessment of the impact of alcohol use on HIV risk behaviors. There are also plans to develop and test a prototype informed consent process for vaccine efficacy trials. For more information, visit http://www.bhp.org.bw.
Maiteko a Tshireletso Phase I Vaccine Trial
Another forthcoming study of the vaccine initiative will be a phase I trial of an HIV vaccine. This trial will be conducted among a small group of volunteers as a first step in evaluating a product that is being considered for larger-scale efficacy trials in the future.
China Project
The vaccine efforts of HAI’s China Project involve ongoing research from laboratories in China and the United States. In 2000, Principle Research Scientist Yichen Lu of HAI and Ruan Li, Director of the Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, established joint laboratories working on AIDS vaccine research and development for China and Africa. HAI similarly partners with Nankai University Vaccine Laboratory through researcher exchange and joint laboratory efforts. The China Project is currently considering two subtype-C vaccine candidates for further development.
For information on other China Project efforts, click here.
HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HTVN)
The Botswana–HAI Partnership in Gaborone is an official site of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. This provides the Partnership access to additional experimental HIV vaccines that are not developed by HAI researchers. The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, which is funded by the United States National Institutes of Health, conducts all phases of clinical trials, from evaluating candidate vaccines for safety and the ability to stimulate immune responses, to testing vaccine efficacy. For more information about the HVTN, visit http://www.hvtn.org. The Botswana–HAI Partnership plans to begin safety evaluations of a candidate HIV vaccine by late 2002/early 2003 as part of the HVTN.
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