Human clinical trials of a potential HIV vaccine have started in South Africa, and one of the first trials will test a preventive AIDS vaccine candidate named AVX101 designed by Durham-based AlphaVax (www.alphavax.com). AVX101 is intended to prevent people who are uninfected with HIV/AIDS from contracting the disease.
The trial of AVX101 is being conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network of the US government's National Institutes of Health, in association with the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative. A small-scale trial of AVX101 is also underway in the United States.
AlphaVax has been a CED member since 1999.