Data Suggest AIDSVAX B/B Induces Broad Immune Response To Common Subtypes.(Brief Article)

2002 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- VaxGen, Inc., announced that published findings suggest it's HIV/AIDS vaccine, AIDSVAX B/B, induces antibodies to the five most common HIV subtypes.

The article, by Sandra A. Lee and coauthors of VaxGen, also describes laboratory experiments in which AIDSVAX B/B elicited antibodies able to recognize primary isolates, the type of HIV found in nature and considered the most difficult to protect against.

"Once again we see evidence that AIDSVAX induces a more robust immune response than we originally anticipated," said Donald P. Francis, MD, DSc, VaxGen. "We are particularly pleased to see evidence, at least in laboratory experiments, that antibodies induced by AIDSVAX recognize primary isolates from a variety of HIV subtypes. Only our Phase III field trials will definitively determine how well AIDSVAX works, but laboratory results such as these are encouraging because primary isolates pose the greatest challenge for any development-stage AIDS vaccine."

The study results were published in a recent issue of the journal Vaccine (2002;20:536-576). The findings were made possible by a laboratory test developed at VaxGen that is believed to be more accurate than previous methods at detecting the interaction of antibodies and primary isolates of HIV. The test, known as an oligomeric gp120 binding assay, was used in laboratory experiments to detect how well antibodies induced by AIDSVAX B/B bound to gp120, the surface protein of HIV, as the protein budded through the surface of infected human cells. If antibodies bind well enough to gp120, it is believed they will prevent the virus from infecting human T cells and thereby neutralize infection.

"The assay is less labor intensive and much more sensitive than the conventional neutralization assays," the article states. "Significant correlation was found between oligomeric gp120 binding and neutralization (of HIV). Using the oligomeric ...