http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a3FXRXTBx3c0
Chinese government said its first human trial of an AIDS vaccine showed it
was effective in protecting against the HIV-1 virus and didn't produce any
serious side effects among 49 volunteers to whom it was administered.
All participants showed signs they had "become immune against the HIV-1
virus" after it had been administered for 15 days, the State Food and Drug
Administration said in a statement posted on its website over the weekend.
"Initial trials of this vaccine show that it is clearly effective," the
regulator said. "However, we need to push forward with more clinical trials in
order to make sure that this vaccine can be used widely."
China is adding 70,000 new HIV-AIDS cases a year and the epidemic may worsen
as the number of sexually transmitted infections increases, according to a study
released in January by United Nations AIDS, the World Health Organization and
China's Health Ministry. About 25,000 people died of HIV-AIDS last year in
China, the study said. Researchers have estimated the development of a safe and
effective vaccine against AIDS is at least 10 years away.
None of the people involved in the test program had shown any "ill effects"
after a 180-day monitoring period, the regulator said in its statement.
"If this was proven to be effective, it would be a massive step forward in
the combat against AIDS," said Robert Pollard, China managing director for
Synovate Health Care, a market research firm and a subsidiary of Aegis Group
Plc's Synovate unit.
The vaccine has been under development since 2003 and was part of China's
national science "863 project," the regulator said. Second phase trials may
involve as many as 300 volunteers, while 500 people may take part in a third
phase, Xinhua news agency reported.
The first phase was launched in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, on March 12 last year, Xinhua said. The volunteers, 33 men and 16 women
aged between 18 and 50, received the vaccine by Oct. 20, it
said.
