[procaare] HIV Vaccines: How Close?

[AIDS2002 & HDN <procaare@usa.healthnet.org>]

HIV Vaccines: How Close?
***************************

The media circus that followed Dr Robert Gallo yesterday down the aisle of hall 1.2
suggested we were in for something big. Gallo's presentation certainly turned out to be
provocative. Studies from his team suggest entry inhibitors should be a target for
vaccines, rather than the usual reliance on the production of neutralising antibodies
derived from the use of sole "envelope" vaccines.

Gallo proposed that entry inhibitor vaccines, by blocking the entry of HIV into the CD4
cell, could be active against a much higher number of HIV mutations, both as prevention,
and as therapy. Taken together with one of his opening statements, that the "days of
protease inhibitors are numbered because of toxicity problems," he was clearly trying to
forge a new path through the complexities of HIV treatments.

It's clear that vaccines are now attracting a similar "buzz" to that of combination
therapy at the 1996 Vancouver conference. Lawrence Corey's plenary presentation called for
a renewed focus on vaccine development. Sessions and press conferences during the week
have promoted access to vaccines as a human right, and the notion of a "vaccine advocacy"
movement is beginning to be heard in daily discourse, and not just at the fringes, but in
mainstream events and satellite meetings.

The optimism of a positive outcome from the Thailand phase III vaccine trials hinted at
yesterday adds impetus to the notion that we may be on the brink finding the final piece
of the jigsaw in HIV prevention.

This would be hasty. The myriad of vaccine studies presented here suggest clinical science
is still seeking what "works" in this area.

Science seems to promise much, be it treatment, or successful vaccines. In reality,
however, we should remember that though clinical research may result in products that are
of proven benefit, getting treatment to people who really need help is much more
complicated.

AIDS 2002 Conference News produced by Health & Development Networks/Key Correspondent Team
www.hdnet.org - correspondents@hdnet.org

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