It was last January in the USA that the first doses of messenger RNA vaccine against HIV were administered to humans.
After the Covid-19l’Will messenger RNA help fight the AIDS virus? The first promising results have been recorded in animals, American scientists recently announced. In humans, the first doses of messenger RNA vaccine against HIV were administered to 56 HIV-negative adults. The purpose of this vaccine is to stimulate the production of certain antibodies capable of fighting against HIV, the virus responsible for AIDS, by teaching B lymphocytes to fight against the virus by producing a particular type of antibody.
Promising results on animals
For exactly 40 years, researchers around the world have been searching for an AIDS vaccine, between hope and despair. Today, the Moderna laboratory is using its RNA technology to stem HIV with phase 1 trials. Concern: finding a response to HIV will be more complicated than for Covid-19, the virus du side sattacking the immune system which is supposed to defend us; moreover, it is very changeable.
More complicated than Covid-19
But science is advancing. Administered to macaques, the vaccine was found to be safe and the risk of infection per exposure was reduced by 79%. Messenger RNA has the advantage of being able to be produced very quickly and on a very large scale.
Produced very quickly and on a very large scale
Regarding global HIV statistics, 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2020 and 680,000 died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2020. In France, more than 400 people died of AIDS. It is estimated that 180,000 people are currently infected with the virus, including 25,000 who do not know it (figures: Public Health France).