Published
Article written by
/2021/12/14/61b8b98e077d1_france-2.png)
Messenger RNA, which provided an answer to Covid-19, also raises hopes in the search for an AIDS vaccine. Since 1992, scientists have been trying to find the solution.
Forty years of AIDS history, 40 years of research punctuated with hope, including that of finding a vaccine, as in 2009, with a promising trial. A hope finally disappointed, like the others. But the Covid crisis has opened up a new avenue, messenger RNA. The Moderna laboratory has launched trials to use its technique against HIV, which is more flexible and adaptable. These are phase 1 trials, and will take not months but years of study.
Because finding a vaccine against the coronavirus was less complicated than against HIV, in particular because the AIDS virus attacks the immune system that is supposed to defend us and that it is extremely variable. To counter the coronavirus, the vaccine targets the spike protein. But for HIV, one target is not enough. Like the scientific community, associations remain cautious, but want to believe in this new strategy.
Press release IAVI (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative scientific research organization)
Moderna releases:
https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2022/IAVI-and-Moderna-Launch-Trial-of-HIV-Vaccine-Antigens-Delivered-Through-mRNA-Technology
/default.aspx https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2022/Moderna-Announces-First-Participant-Dosed-in-Phase-1-Study-of-its-HIV-Trimer-mRNA- Vaccine/default.aspx
Article from HIV.org
Article from Transversal, Sidaction’s magazine
Non-exhaustive list