GenVec Reports Results From Phase I HIV Vaccine Study

GenVec has presented safety and immune response data from the first of several ongoing Phase I clinical trials involving an HIV vaccine candidate developed jointly by GenVec and the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The data showed that the vaccine was well-tolerated and immunogenic at each dose level.

The vaccine is the first of its kind to use an adenovector (gene carrier) to deliver genes from all three of the major subtypes, or clades, of HIV causing the global AIDS pandemic, and responses were detected to each of those subtypes. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study tested three different dose levels, with 10 volunteers receiving vaccine injections and two receiving placebo injections at each dose level.

The VRC is also testing the multiclade adenovector vaccine delivered as a booster to a DNA vaccine to assess safety and help determine whether the vaccine, used as a booster, can provide a stronger immune response to HIV than DNA vaccine alone. The multiclade adenovector vaccine was developed using GenVec's proprietary adenovector technology and the company's 293-ORF6 production cell line. GenVec produced the vaccine under a $40 million subcontract issued and managed by SAIC-Frederick that extends through 2008. All clinical testing is being conducted by the VRC.