2 hours ago
Photo author, TASS
—
For several years now, Russia has been talking about the imminent creation of a vaccine against HIV, however, so far no clinical trials have been carried out
–
There are prototypes of HIV vaccines in Russia, said Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor.
–
“Russia has been taking part in the development of a vaccine against HIV infection for a sufficient number of years, we have our own prototypes, we have our own vaccines. The Vector Research Center has its own prototype, and a number of other research organizations in the Russian Federation have their own prototypes, “Popova told reporters, answering a question from RIA Novosti.
–
Popova spoke about a vaccine prototype on World AIDS Day.
–
“Vector” has been working on a vaccine against HIV for over 20 years, the first tests on volunteers have already been carried out, said the head of “Vector” Rinat Maksyutov in an interview with Ura.ru.
–
According to him, the prototype of the vaccine has successfully passed the first phase of clinical trials in volunteers, but the research is now suspended. He did not comment on the reasons for the suspension of tests and the timing of their resumption.
–
Officials talked about the readiness of the Russian HIV vaccine for testing back in 2014. “One of the prototypes of the Russian vaccine against HIV infection will be prepared by the end of this year and will enter the phase of clinical trials,” said the then head of the Ministry of Health Veronika Skvortsova.
–
“It [заявление Поповой о наличии прототипа вакцины в России] not news; Three vaccine candidates have been tested for several years, but so far no breakthroughs have been announced, “Igor Pchelin, chairman of the Steps AIDS Foundation, said in an interview with the BBC. Candidates for a preventive vaccine are yet to be tested. reached.
–
Oleg Yurin, an infectious disease specialist and leading researcher at the Russian Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, agrees with him: “Since 1991, I periodically hear [о вакцине]that she will be “soon”. “Popova, maybe she knows better, she deals with this more professionally, I am engaged in the treatment of HIV infection with drugs, but I have not heard that there were any big successes [в создании вакцины]”, – says Yurin.
–
He notes that it is necessary to understand whether Popova speaks about “curative” or preventive vaccines.
–
In addition to candidates for preventive vaccines, in Russia there are candidates for therapeutic vaccines – drugs that will make it possible to do without the constant intake of antiretroviral therapy. Now there are three of them: a vaccine created at the Institute of Immunology in Moscow, at the Vector Virology and Biotechnology Center in Novosibirsk and at the Biomedical Center in St. Petersburg. Success in their clinical trials has not yet been reported.
–
In 2014, the Biomedical Center announced the conduct of the second phase of research, noting that if successful, the vaccine could appear in three to four years – but it never appeared. In 2018, the Moscow City Center for Prevention and Control of AIDS reported that trials of another therapeutic vaccine would begin in Moscow next year.
–
“This is one of the most promising therapeutic vaccines in the world, that is, a vaccine that will accompany an HIV patient. Its principle of action is such that a patient does not need to take medications for a long time. This is very important and reduces the cost of treatment,” said the chief freelance specialist of the capital on the problems of diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection Alexey Mazus. Completion of these trials was not reported.
–
Several preventive vaccines are being developed in other countries. So, there is a candidate called HVTN 7026, the development of which began in 2016 in South Africa. Her trials have so far been interrupted due to the lack of significant results.
–
There is also a candidate for the MOSAICO combination vaccine, which was first tested in monkeys, with promising results. Since the end of 2019, clinical trials of this drug on several thousand people are underway in the United States. In February 2022, trials of another candidate vaccine called IMBOKODO will end. While its effectiveness is estimated at 67%.
–
Not a single vaccine showing a high degree of effectiveness against the HIV virus, which was discovered about 40 years ago, has not yet been invented, since it constantly mutates, which nullifies the attempts of scientists. Almost all known approaches have been tried to create vaccines against HIV, but all of them are still unpromising. In 2009, a vaccine developed in Thailand reduced the risk of contracting HIV by 60%. However, after three years of research, this figure dropped to 31%.
–
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infectious disease that affects the name system. In the absence of therapy, the virus causes AIDS – already a much more severe condition of the immune system, in which a person can die from any infection or other virus.
—
