AIDS vaccine

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J&J Shuts Down HIV Vaccine Trial
J&J Shuts Down 
HIV Vaccine Trial

J&J Shuts Down HIV Vaccine Trial

Study in five African countries found that it only provided 25% protection

(Newser) - Scientists searching for an HIV vaccine have been disappointed yet again. Johnson & Johnson says it has shut down a vaccine trial in Africa that started in 2017 after finding that it only provided 25% protection, the New York Times reports. The trial involved young women at high risk of...

Promising New HIV Vaccine Heads to Human Trials

Vaccine comes from AIDS pioneer after 15 years of development

(Newser) - The man who first proved that AIDS was triggered by the HIV virus more than 30 years ago is back with a potential vaccine that starts human testing this month, Science Alert reports. In the three decades since Dr. Robert Gallo made his breakthrough, more than 100 AIDS vaccines have...

New Compound Totally Blocks HIV

Team says it's getting close to AIDS vaccine

(Newser) - In an exciting breakthrough in the fight against AIDS, four monkeys injected with an experimental compound have remained HIV-free for almost a year despite repeated efforts to infect them with large doses of the virus. The researchers, whose study is published in the journal Nature , say the compound they've...

Scientists Closing in on AIDS Vaccine

Successful simian vaccine marks major advance

(Newser) - "There's more hope than ever before that an AIDS vaccine might be possible," says the lead author of a study that marks a major advance in the search. The study found that experimental vaccines used on monkeys reduced their susceptibility to the monkey version of HIV by...

Scientists Find Trick to 'Disarm' HIV

Without its cholesterol, virus can't harm immune system

(Newser) - A group of US and European scientists have discovered a way to prevent the HIV virus from harming the immune system, in a breakthrough that could lead to an entirely new approach to fighting AIDS. They discovered that by extracting cholesterol, they could render the virus a sitting duck for...

HIV and AIDS Research: Scientists Find HIV's 'Achilles Heel' for Drugs, Vaccines to Hone in on
 Scientists Find 
 HIV's Achilles Heel 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Scientists Find HIV's Achilles Heel

Vaccines should target one area, not the entire virus, new research suggests

(Newser) - Scientists have made an important breakthrough in HIV research, and we have the stock market to thank. Researchers used random matrix theory, which is also used to analyze stock behavior, to identify a major target for HIV and AIDS drugs—what the Wall Street Journal calls its “Achilles heel....

HIV Vaccine Works in Monkeys

Called 'unprecedented' step forward in AIDS research

(Newser) - Big advances in AIDS research are hard to come by—but researchers in Oregon say their new vaccine marks a huge step forward. In a study of HIV’s monkey equivalent, the researchers found that 13 of 24 rhesus macaques given the vaccine were protected against the disease; 12 were...

Vaginal Gel Slashes AIDS Risk
 Vaginal Gel Slashes AIDS Risk 

Vaginal Gel Slashes AIDS Risk

Approach gives women some control over HIV prevention

(Newser) - A new gel drastically lowers the risk that female users will contract HIV and herpes during vaginal sex, marking a breakthrough in AIDS prevention second in significance only to an effective vaccine. "This is a potential game changer," an expert not involved in the research tells the Wall ...

After 20 Years, Scientists Crack HIV Puzzle

Enzyme integrase made visible for first time

(Newser) - After 40,000 failed trials and "painstakingly slow progress," scientists have solved a puzzle that stumped AIDS researchers for more than 20 years—and their findings could help develop more effective HIV drugs. The researchers at Harvard and Imperial College London grew a crystal that for the first...

AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated
 AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated 

AIDS Vaccine Data Overstated

Much-hyped Thai results statistically insignificant, researchers say

(Newser) - The data from last month’s much-hyped Thai AIDS vaccine trial are actually statistically insignificant, according to a secondary analysis published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The original results from the trial, which included more than 16,000 people, concluded that the vaccine reduced infections by a...

Vaccine Cuts HIV Infection Rate by 1/3

Watershed US-Thai study is first to show success

(Newser) - A new vaccine tested in Thailand has protected a significant minority of subjects against HIV infection—marking the first time a vaccine has shown even partial success against the virus that causes AIDS. The 16,000-volunteer study, undertaken by the US Army, the Thai health ministry, and two drug companies,...

Breakthrough Raises Hope for HIV Vaccine

Antibodies could help scientists combat elusive virus' defenses

(Newser) - Researchers have found two antibodies that neutralize the AIDS virus more successfully than any identified in the past, resurrecting hopes that it may be possible to develop an effective vaccine, Time reports. The new antibodies are effective against a broad range of HIV variants, neutralizing the virus’ most effective defense:...

Giving Away Billions Feels Great: Gates

Microsoft founder touts philan-therapy for world's rich

(Newser) - Bill Gates is touting the feel-good benefits of giving away money, telling a crowd in Oslo that “all billionaires should give away the vast majority of their fortunes.” Leave enough for the kids, he says, but, “I’m a great believer that great wealth should go from...

Gene Tests Yield Results in AIDS Fight

Antibodies prevent HIV from spreading in monkeys

(Newser) - A back-door approach to battling AIDS that could revolutionize treatment has succeeded in monkeys, AP reports. Scientists inserted a gene that produces protective antibodies into the muscles of six monkeys, then injected them with SIV—the animal equivalent of HIV. None developed AIDS, and most still had high amounts of...

AIDS Vaccine Quest Gets $100M Injection

(Newser) - A technology entrepreneur has given Massachusetts General Hospital its largest gift ever—$100 million—to create an interdisciplinary institute focused on finding an AIDS vaccine, the Boston Globe reports. The institute will bring together doctors and scientists from MGH, Harvard, and MIT, including engineers and mathematicians, who would otherwise not...

On World AIDS Day, a Call for Sounder Science

Stronger research would trump futile drug trials

(Newser) - Researchers are hopeful they can develop an AIDS vaccine despite the recent, high-profile failures of two clinical trials, Health Day reports. But progress must be built on solid science and convincing preliminary results in animals. “There have been a lot of calls for a return to basic science,”...

Cold Virus Foiled AIDS Vaccine
Cold Virus Foiled AIDS Vaccine

Cold Virus Foiled AIDS Vaccine

Study subjects with immunity to common virus saw increased risk with vaccine

(Newser) - A promising AIDS vaccine that failed in trials—actually increasing rather than reducing risk of infection—turned out to be ineffective in people who had immunity to a common cold virus, developers reported yesterday. The Merck vaccine contained an altered version of that virus, and study subjects with existing immunities...

AIDS Vaccine Fails in Trials
AIDS Vaccine Fails in Trials

AIDS Vaccine Fails in Trials

Clinical trials suspended after dismal results for most promising vaccine

(Newser) - Heavy hopes riding on an HIV vaccine were dashed as the vaccine proved so ineffective in a clinical trial that manufacturer Merck has ended the trial early. The vaccine had shown promise in animal and small-scale human tests but neither prevented nor reduced the severity of infection in a large-scale...

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