Baltimore’s cutting-edge HIV vaccine research gets another boost

The October 2015 announcement that human trials would begin in Baltimore for an experimental HIV vaccine was met with great fanfare. The Institute of Human Virology, which is based at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, trumpeted the move at a press conference filled with academic and government dignitaries.
But the man who had a central role in the discovery of HIV was already looking at a future challenge.
A key issue, said IHV Director Dr. Robert C. Gallo, is that the antibodies produced in test vaccines (including IHV’s own) do not last. The goal in most vaccines is to mobilize T-cells to fight off a disease. But those are the very cells that HIV attacks, and it infects them very quickly.

“We’ve got to solve the problem of getting the antibodies to last longer,” Gallo said at the time.

Dr. Robert C. Gallo in October 2015. (Photo by Stephen Babcock)

On Monday, IHV said it is receiving new resources to address that specific issue. The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded a $14.4 million grant to specifically study the production of longer-lasting antibodies. The vaccine being tested in humans at IHV, which is technically an immunogen called the “Full Length Single Chain,” will be used in the research.

“We have noticed an unusual, but not uncommon, phenomenon in HIV’s envelope protein that affects the sustainability of antibodies,” IHV’s Dr. Anthony DeVico said in a statement. “We need to learn why this is happening so we can promote durability in our vaccine’s antibody response against HIV.”

IHV researchers will collaborate with Dr. Guido Silvestri of Emory University, and Warner Greene of the University of California at San Francisco on the research. Baltimore-based Profectus Biosciences is also involved in the HIV vaccine trials.