The Annual PrEPVacc consortium meeting was a gathering of sixty-two people that included community members/volunteers, scientists, immunologists, statisticians, and principal investigators (PIs) with several team members. The three days (15th to 17th January 2024) included updates from the four PIs from Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda, respectively, who shared their efforts in communicating the study updates to various stakeholders. Each PI also highlighted the next steps for 2024 when the trial will end with shared efforts put in place to publish various articles.
PrEPVacc is an African-led, European-supported HIV prevention study running in East and Southern Africa from 2018 to 2024. For the first time, it is combining the evaluation of experimental HIV vaccines and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is Discovery and Truvada at the same time. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), HIV and other Infectious Diseases Research Unit (HIDRU) has a site at Verulam, north of Durban which is the only South African PrEPVacc site.
In December 2023, the study announced that it had stopped further vaccinations as there is little or no chance of the trial demonstrating vaccine efficacy in preventing HIV acquisition. The oral PrEP component of the study is however continuing to completion.
In attendance was the SAMRC’s President and CEO, and National PI, Prof Glenda Gray who discussed the next steps with regards to HIV vaccine prevention research and the need to make HIV prevention vaccines paramount, especially in communities with high HIV incidence rates. “We need a preventative HIV vaccine and cannot rely on HIV treatment only. Thus, efforts to find a vaccine continue in full force” added Prof Gray.
Further, Site PI, Dr Nishanta Singh (HIDRU), discussed the importance of participants understanding the role of vaccines in preventing HIV. Xoliswa Nomvungu, Community Working group (CWG) member, and nurse at the public health clinic shared her appreciation for the transparent way that the community and participants were updated on the study.
She emphasised that they received a favourable response to the PrEPVacc study update from communities, adding that the site's responsibility to participants is to ensure they are counselled to access available HIV prevention options. “The promotion of counselling on the use and uptake of oral PrEP and other available prevention methods remains our collective responsibility” concluded Dr Singh.
Neetha Morar, Senior Research Manager and communication liaison for PrEPVacc said “This African-led trial brought together community members/volunteers (CABs/CWGs) from the four trial sites as equal partners in the development of messages and plans for results dissemination to participants and community stakeholders. This included having study participants be ambassadors of the trial in 2024.”
Read more about PrEPVacc | HERE