How to Improve HIV Vaccine Candidates

Following the discovery of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as a causative agent of AIDS, multiple vaccine-candidate clinical trials have been conducted over the past 35 years. 

According to the authors of a new study published in the journal Science, future HIV vaccine candidates may be more successful if they include additional doses or persist longer in the body to stimulate the immune system further.

These researchers wrote on December 14, 2023, that the potential of an HIV vaccine might be better judged by measuring how it affects CD8+ T-cell function and sensitivity in addition to just assessing the number of CD8+ T cells generated, which has been the usual practice. 

These findings build on decades of research by the HIV-Specific Immunity Section of NIAID’s Laboratory of Immunoregulation to better understand the immune response to HIV.

The insights from this study may help guide future preventive and therapeutic HIV vaccine design and development and HIV immunotherapy approaches. 

Mark Connors, M.D., chief of the HIV-Specific Immunity Section of NIAID’s Laboratory of Immunoregulation, is available to discuss this research via e-mail at [email protected].

As of December 23, 2023, there are no approved HIV vaccines.