The Hindu Business Line : AIDS vaccine trials in India likely next year

THE AIDS vaccine trial, slated to start in India early next year, is set to be a benchmark of sorts for vaccine trials in the country, especially with regard to volunteer safety.

The India-specific vaccine, being developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), is putting in place safety-catches to protect the patient, including taking on board a government-owned insurance company to cover participants in the trials. The Indian Council of Medical Research is partnering the project, and the trials are set to commence at Pune's National Aids Research Institute (NARI).

Wednesday marks another World AIDS Day, and India has an estimated 5.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS. But an optimistic date for an AIDS vaccine is still more than five years away.

"At no stage of the vaccine trial would a volunteer become HIV positive, as only fragments of the virus are introduced into the body. The fragments mimic the infected situation and activate the body's immune system. In the stray chance of a person getting infected because of the trial, IAVI will support the person as long as required," said Ms Anjali Nayyar, IAVI's India Country Director.

Two AIDS vaccine candidates are slated for trials in India and both target sub-type C, specific to the country. "The first vaccine candidate has completed its first phase of trials in Germany and Belgium. When India commences phase I trials next year, it would be part of a multi-centric trial," she said.

"All documentation on the vaccine has been submitted for regulatory approvals to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and the GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee)," Ms Nayyar told Business Line. Union Health Ministry officials said the AIDS vaccine trial had received an "in-principle" clearance from the Ministry's screening committee.

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