Another HIV vaccine has failed – so what happens next? - The Telegraph

But while analysts found it was safe, the trial was halted because the vaccine did not prevent more HIV infections than a placebo.

All have failed at the final hurdle, with just one showing signs of modest efficacy in a trial in Thailand between 2003 and 2006.

Experts are still confident that one day they will produce a successful HIV vaccine, but they point to several formidable challenges that have yet to be overcome.

“When we get measles, we recover from measles and there’s an immune response that our body mounts, [and we can design a vaccine] that copies that response,” said Professor Salim Abdool Karim, director of Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa.

He added that when Sars-Cov-2 emerged, earlier research into the first Sars outbreak had already identified what component of a coronavirus should be targeted – the so-called ‘spike protein’.

And finally, said Prof Karim, there is no reliable animal model that can work as a basis for HIV virus research.