HIV vaccine

Researchers at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI, www.umbi.umd.edu) have designed new vaccines that prevent HIV infections. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded the team a $5.3 million grant to develop the best of their HIV vaccines, which will block the infection whether transmitted by sexual contact or blood exchange because it provides whole-body immunity.

Carried by a multiply mutated strain of the Salmonella bacteria with deactivated DNA fragments from HIV's outer coat, the vaccine will be swallowed in a liquid suspension. This "bactofection" technology, which involves placing a vaccine into Salmonella or another infectious bacteria species, has been previously approved by FDA.

Principal investigator George Lewis says the vaccine is extremely transportable, may not require refrigeration, eliminates the need for sterile needles, and is less expensive than other AIDS vaccines under development. "If this proves to be both safe and very immunogenic in humans, it will be a total breakthrough in HIV vaccines," says David M. Hone, associate professor at UMBI, "because of the way it attacks the virus at its first contact." For more information contact Steve Berberich, UMBI media officer, 301.738.6295, berberic@umbi.umd.edu.