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Italian aids vaccine tests
continue
Reported July 02, 2008
(ANSA) - Rome, July 2 - The second phase of
testing for a ground-breaking Italian AIDS vaccine is about to get under
way, the research chief said Wednesday.
''Finally everything is ready to go after an incredibly long wait due above
all to problems with funding,'' said Barbara Ensoli from Italy's Higher
Health Institute (ISS).
''Tests will begin shortly in ten centres across the country with 128
HIV-positive people between the ages of 18 and 55 taking part, both men and
women,'' Ensoli said.
She added that all volunteers will be undergoing antiretroviral therapy and
have a virtually undetectable viral load.
''The objective is to watch the response of the immune system,'' she said.
The second phase is set to last one year, with six months for treatment and
six months for testing, Ensoli said.
In 2006 Ensoli closed the first phase of research and reported that her AIDS
vaccine had passed its initial tests with flying colours.
She said all the Italian volunteers - both HIV-positive and healthy - had
shown a ''100% response to the vaccine by producing specific antibodies''.
Ensoli's vaccine is considered ground-breaking because it adopts a new
approach to fighting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Traditional vaccines seek to bolster the immune system, the aim being to
boost the body's ability to fight off the disease.
This approach, however, has been relatively unsuccessful against HIV, a
virus good at mutating and reviving itself.
Ensoli's 'tat-protein' vaccine on the other hand, attempts to block the
spread of the infection and prevent the reproduction of infected cells.
Ensoli believes the HIV virus needs tat-proteins to be able to take root and
spread.
By targeting tat-proteins her treatment might be effective against all
strains of HIV.
Results from studies of the vaccine on laboratory animals have shown the
treatment could be a vital step forward in the fight against AIDS.
The vaccine - described by eminent oncologist and former health minister
Umberto Veronesi as ''intelligent'' - received the green light for human
testing in 2003.
Ensoli's technique is not without its critics, however. In August last year
the American magazine Science reported that Ensoli had filed a suit against
prominent immunologist Ferdinando Auiti accusing him of slander and seeking
to tarnish her reputation.
Aiuti, Sciene wrote, had repeatedly cited ''critical errors'' in the first
experimental stages of Ensoli's vaccine.
Aiuti said he was ''surprised'' about the suit, adding that he had ''nothing
personal'' against Ensoli and that he had not changed his opinion on her
experimental vaccine.
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