HIV vaccine trial put on hold in SA

The Phambili HIV Vaccine trial has been put on hold

The Phambili HIV Vaccine trial, which was being done at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, has been put on hold. This comes after interim results from a sister trial in the United States and Australia suggested it failed to prevent HIV infection.

The South African trial formed the largest African HIV vaccine trial with the participation of 700 volunteers. The news is a major blow to Aids researchers, as the vaccine was billed as the world's most promising.

“Preliminary data coming out of this vaccine trial suggest that although the vaccine is safe, it probably has not protected against infection. Until we have further data we feel that it is important that we don't enrol anymore participants in our trial, and that we stop vaccination while we interrogate the data coming out of the US,” said Prenatal HIV Research Unit and lead investigator at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, Glenda Gray.