A new clinical trial is being conducted in Africa to test two HIV vaccine candidates called PrEPVacc. The study which aimed at testing the efficacy of the two vaccines, in addition to, offering HIV prophylactic medications.

 

The trial is being done in Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa, enrolling 1,513 participants who are between the ages of 18 to 40 years.

 

Its important to note that the three countries where this study is being conducted have a high prevalence of HIV, and they rank among top 15 countries in the world with high HIV burden, based on a 2022 report. 

 

UNAIDS estimates 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illness globally in 2022, while 39 million people are living with the virus, including 1.3 million people newly infected last year.

 

”This is an evolution of a previous vaccine RV144, not a revolution. These are both regimens which have never gone into efficacy study before. The best we feel, at the moment, that medical science can provide,” said the study Lead applicant and coordinator, Jonathan Weber, the director of the Imperial College Academic Health Science, London, the United Kingdom.

 

For more information on the study visit here.