- Joined
- Feb 7, 2013
- Messages
- 202
- Points
- 0
Brazilian scientists to test AIDS 'vaccine' on monkeys
Brazilian scientists have developed an HIV vaccine and plan to begin testing on monkeys later this year, a sponsor institution has said.
Scientists plan to test the 'vaccine' on a colony of rhesus monkeys provided by Sao Paulo state's Butantan biomedical research institute Photo: Alamy
AFP
3:27AM BST 06 Aug 2013
Known as the HIVBr18, the vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS was developed and patented by a team from the Medicine Faculty of the University of Sao Paulo, the Sao Paulo state Research Foundation (FAPESP) said.
The scientists said that, at its current stage of development, the vaccine would not totally eliminate the virus from the organism.
But the vaccine would be able to maintain it at a viral load low enough that the infected person will neither develop an immunodeficiency nor transmit the virus, they explained.
The foundation said the monkey trials are expected to last two years.
"Our goal is to test various immunisation methods to select the one capable of inducing a stronger immunological response and thus be able to test it on humans," FAPESP quoted Cunha Neto as saying.
Provided adequate funding is available, the first clinical trials could then be launched, it added.
Work on the vaccine began in 2001 and the research team – Edecio Cunha Neto, Jorge Kalil and Simone Fonseca – plan to test it on a colony of rhesus monkeys provided by Sao Paulo state's Butantan biomedical research institute.
Edited by Steve Wilson
