Cautious optimism for trials of mRNA-based HIV vaccine

ABSTRACT

Speed read Clinical trials for mRNA vaccine against HIV begin in United States Upcoming trials in Rwanda and South Africa will test long-term suppression of HIV But lack of license access and production capacity may hamper pan-African rollout Scientists urge African leaders to demand fair licensing following clinical trials of an HIV vaccine candidate. According to the World Health Organization, more than two-thirds of the 25 million people living with HIV live in Africa, where the risk of dying from the disease is also the highest. “Moderna has not proven itself to be generous when releasing the patent or making their COVID-19 mRNA vaccine available in developing countries to date,” says Monica Gandhi, the director of the University of California San Francisco Center for AIDS Research. [...]we will need government and community pressure on the company to share its technology with the rest of the world, given that HIV incidence is highest in developing countries.”