AIDS vaccine under trial
Will the combo drug succeed?
Clinical trial of a combination vaccine against AIDS has begun in India. The Indian Council of Medical Research, the body governing biomedical research in India, is selecting volunteers for the trial. ADVAX and tbc-m 4 vaccines have been tested individually and now the researchers are trying to see if they work better in tandem through the prime boost method. In this method, one vaccine is combined with another to boost the effect of the first vaccine. Previous trials of aids vaccines have been controversial. In 2005, an aids vaccine that had failed in Europe, was tried in India.
The current trial is being carried out in collaboration with the International aids Vaccine Initiative at the National aids Research Institute, Pune, and Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai.