Aila Slisco in Newsweek:
Biotechnology company Moderna is preparing to begin human trials on HIV vaccines as early as Wednesday, using the same mRNA platform as the firm’s COVID-19 vaccine.
An entry posted Wednesday to the National Institutes of Health’s registry of clinical trials shows that the trials are estimated to start on August 19 and should be completed by spring 2023.
Moderna has two HIV vaccine candidates, mRNA-1644 and mRNA-1644v2-Core, both of which have cleared initial safety testing before being used on humans for the first time. The randomized trials will include 56 HIV-negative participants aged 18 to 56.
HIV is one of several viruses that Moderna is targeting for vaccine development using the mRNA platform. The Moderna and the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines were the first-ever mRNA vaccines authorized for human use in the U.S., although the technology had been in development for decades and was reaching maturity as the pandemic emerged.
More here.