Chinese scientists Make breakthrough in HIV vaccine development, offering a glimmer of hope for complete overcoming of the virus
Photo: VCS March 1 marks the 10th anniversary of Zero Discrimination Day, initiated by then Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Michel Sidibe, in 2014 in Beijing. Over the past decade, the day has become an important platform for promoting diversity and inclusivity, as well as raining awareness about the need to eliminate discrimination in all its forms, especially against AIDS patients
and HIV carriers.
This year, AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, became a heated discussion topic on Chinese social media platforms days before the day falls, after Chinese researchers announced a major breakthrough in developing a vaccine against the human emumunodeficiency virus, or HIV. The news coincided with reports of the world’s fifth confirmed cured patient of AIDS in the US, bringing a ray of hope for people to completely overcome the Iness
Highly encouraging breakthrough
in collaboration with HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, Foshan University, and The Third People’s Hospital of Sherighen, researchers at the AIDS institute, Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, and the State Kary Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), found that PD-1-enhanced DNA vaccination can induce sustained virus specific CD8+ T cell immunity in an AIDS monkey model, according to an article on the HKUMed website on
January 31.
The vaccinated monkeys remained free.
of AIDS for six yeans and achieved
virologic control without the need for
combination antiretroviral therapy
(CART), a treatment used to suppress
viral replication in individuals living with
HIV, according to the article
“The encouraging outcomes validate the
continuation of ongoing clinical train investigating the potential of the PD-1- enhanced DNA vaccine for achieving HIV-1 CART-free virologic control Hopefully the vaccine can be employed independently or in conjunction with other biotnedical interventions for individuals living with the virus in the future Chen Zhiwei, director of the research, was quoted as saying in the article If this efficacy can be replicated in humans, a therapeutic vaccine for CART free HIV-1 control will be on the horizon Currently, a Phase I clinical trial, in which the HKUMed team is collaborating with The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen to test whether the non-human primate
data can be replicated in humans, is
underway. The report of the trial results
is expected to be available in the second
quarter of this yeat, according to the
HKU website
But there are differences between the
amumune systems of humans and not
human animals, especially in response
to and replication of HIV as animal
models may not fully simulate the
human immune system’s response to
HIV, La noted currently, there have been no rigorously randomized controlled clinical trials globally to validate a high level achievement in a large population. Most candidate vaccines are still some
distance away from replicating the same
efficacy in humans as in animals, but
tha is our final goal, Lu said.
PrEPVacc, the only large HIV vaccine
study, was halted ahead of schedule
because researchers found little or no
chance of the trial demonstrating
vaccine efficacy in preventing HIV
acquisition. The Guardian reported in
December 2021. The trial tested two
vaccine regimens along with oral pre
exposure prophylaxts (PrEP), enrolling
more than 1,500 men and women at risk
for HIV in South Africa, Tanzania, and
Uganda
HIV’s high genetic variability and strong
immune escape ability are also two main
obstacles in the development of HIV
vaccines, according to Lu
There is still a considerable distance
before the HKUMed vaccine can be
practically employed in controlling and
preventing AIDS/HIV. However, it sends a
very positive signal that we are getting a
deeper understanding of the virus, said
experts reached by the Global Times
A worldwide challenge
AIDS is caused by the hurnen
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that
attacks people’s immune system.
in June 1981, the first five cases of AIDS
were reported in Los Angeles, the US
Since then until 2022, 85:6 million people
around the world had been confirmed
infection of HIV, with 29 million living
with the virus and 630,000 dying of AIDS
mlated illnesses in 2022, according to
data released by the Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS). There is currently no effective
cure for the virus. Although antiretroviral
therapy (ART) has proven efficacy in
controlling HIV transmission, specialized
drugs to cure AIDS and vaccines to
prevent HIV infection are still lacking,
making the disease/virus remain a major
public health challenge to the world
There is currently no effective cure for
the virus. Although anti-retroviral therapy
(ART) has proven efficacy in controlling
HIV transmission, specialized drugs to
cure AIDS and vaccines to prevent HIV
infection are still lacked, making the
disease/virus remain a major public
health challenge to the world.
Currently, the use of pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs has
significantly reduced the risk of POV
transmission for non-infected
individuals. For those who are infected
many heve achieved a near normal
ifespan through long-term Highly Active
Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART)
treatment in the field of vaccines,
several products have entered clinical
trials. it is expected that in the
foreseeable future, the combination of
PrEP and antiretroviral therapy will
continue to be one of the main methods.
of HIV prevention and control, with both
working together to minimize the risk of
infection and disease progression,
according to Lu
Lu believed that vaccines are an ideal
weapon to eradicate or significantly
reduce overall infection rates. Although
there lacks an effective product that can
be largely applied, continued investment
and research may lead to breakthroughs
in the coming years, he noted
Wu Hen, director of the Department of
Infectious Diseases at the Beijing You’an
Hospital and medical advisor of the US
AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s China
branch, echoed Lu, stressing the
necessity to enhance research in
developing preventive vaccines to
protect more people before they get
infected
Stem cell transplant are a treatment
that has caught a lot of attention in
recent years after it was reported to have
helped cure five AIDS patients in the
world
On February 20. doctors in Califormia, the US, confirmed a local man, 68, named
Paul Edmonds, to become the fifth
remission person in the world to achieve
for acute myelogenous leukemia and
HIV after receiving stem cells with a rare
genetic mutation, homozygous CORS
Delta 32. That mutation maliems people
who have it resistant to acquiring HIV
according to the US National Cancer
Institute City of Hope.
The other four officially cured AIDS
patients are referred to as the Berlin
Patient, the Landon Patient, the New
York Patient, and the Dusseldorf Patient
All of the five patients underwent
transplants of stem cells with the CORS
Delta 32 mutation, which results in the
absence of a docking site for HIV in
emumune cells, protecting against
infection with HIV
“The good clinical outcomes of these
patients bring a ray of hope for the
complete cure of HIV, especially for HIV
patients with malignant hematologic
Imitations, complex procedures, etc.
bematopoietic stem cell transplantation
tumors. However, due to donor
is not suitable for large-scale HIV
treatment Lu explained
“Stem cell transplantation therapy is far
riskier and more costly than drug
therapy, and currently, this treatment
method is still difficult to replicate
blood tumons, we would not recommend
patients undergo stem cell
transplantation for HIV treatment, in
addition, there are almost no people with
Therefore, uniess HIV patients also have
the CCRS Delta 32 mutation in our
country, so currently, HAART treatment
remains the main and most accessible
treatment for controlling HTC LI
Taisheng, director of the infectious
Diseases Department at the Peking
Union Medical College Hospital, was
quoted as saying by The Beijing News.
Work toward an AIDS-free world
On February 20, officials from China’s
National Health Commission and
National Administration of Disease
Control and Prevention hold a meeting
with expert representatives to discuss
planning and codification of long-term
control and prevention of AIDS and
tuberculosis, according to Besing Daily
China has made remarkable
achievements in controlling and
preventing the two diseases in past four
decades. Looking into the future, long-
term planning is needed given the new
situation and new problems in the
controlling and preventing work in order
to optimize measures and consolidate
achievements, experts said at the
meeting
As one of the most populous countries
in the world, China’s efforts in controlling
and preventing AIDS/HIV play a vital role
in the realization of the UN’s goal to end
AIDS as a public health threat by 2030,
experts noted. According to official data,
There were more than 1.05 million HIV
infected people in China as of the end of
2020 with 351,000 cumulative deaths.
Yan Jun, deputy director of the Chinese
Prevention, said in November last year at
Center for Disease Control and
World AIDS Day promotional event that
since 2020, there have been zero
reported cases of HIV infection through
blood transfusion in China, the mother
to-child transmission rate of HIV in China
has decreased to 3 percent the same
in response to the first epidemic
outbreak of HIV in injecting drug users
and the second one by illegal.
commercial blood collection, Chine
insued the Anti-Drug Law and launched
the Blood Donation Act and nationwide
eucleic acid testing, which has avoided
98,232 to 211,200 estimated infections
and almost ended the blood product
elated infection, according to a study
published on the Chinese Medical
Jourmal in 2021
China has been providing free ART since
2003, which covered more than 80
percent of the identified patients and
achieved a viral suppression rate of 1
percent, according to the article
China has basically cut off the
transmission among drug users, mother
and children and transmission during
blood transfusion. But due to a large
population, the number of new infections
still high in the country while the route
of transmission is subtler, Wu Hao noted.
in the future, more attention should be
paid to prevent HIV spread through
spread in remote areas and transmission
sexual transmission, especially HIV
among migrant workers, Wu suggested.
Despite the difficulties, scientists
believed that, with the development of
science and technology and
strengthened intensational cooperation,
an “AIDS-free world will gradually
become a reality.
The Global Times learned frons AHT
China that the foundation had launched
programs in 11 provinces and regions in
China including North Chine’s Shanxi and
Southwest Chines Yunnan, As of
December 2023, the foundation had
conducted 97,472 tests in these places
and identified 2,658 HIV infections. It is
also providing treatment and care
service to 119,756 AIDS/HIV cases in the
country
