A HIV Vaccine Is Set Back After Another Trial Fails

A significant blow to a decades-long effort to control and end the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been dealt with after the only vaccine that was in a late-stage trial failed.

Known as Mosaico, the trial began back in 2019 was a product of a public-private partnership that included the US Government and the Johnson & Johnson-owned company Janssen Pharmaceuticals. The trial was run out of eight European nations and the Americas.

Over the past few decades, dozens of HIV would-be vaccines have been tested and discarded after their failure. Experts have stated that this latest failure has set them back by three to five years.

Dr Antony S. Fauci, who formally led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases believes while this failure is disappointing, it won’t stop the “effort toward[s] developing a vaccine.”

“There are other strategic approaches,” Dr Fauci said, as reported by the New York Times.

“I don’t think that people should give up on the field of the HIV vaccine.”

Trial Deemed A Failure

Almost 3,900 men who engage in same-sex relations and transgendered people participated in the trials as they were deemed to be at high risk of contracting HIV.

The trial was deemed a failure by the leaders of the study after an independent data and safety monitoring board assessed the trial’s findings and found no evidence that the vaccine lowered the rate of HIV acquisition in the participants.

While the vaccine posed no health risks, the scientists at Janssen Pharmaceuticals stated that it was ineffective in strengthening the immune system against HIV.’

Spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson, Dr Penny Heaton said that they won’t be giving up on this endevour.

“We are disappointed with this outcome and stand in solidarity with the people and communities vulnerable to and affected by HIV,” Dr Heaton said, as reported by GayTimes.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to advancing innovation in HIV, and we hope the data from Mosaico will provide insights for future efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine.”