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PrEpVacc

PrEPVacc is an African-led, European-supported HIV prevention study running in East and Southern Africa from 2018 to 2023. PrEPVacc is two things: it is testing whether two experimental vaccine combination regimens can protect against HIV, and at the same time it is testing a new form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against the existing standard for PrEP.

The Independent (Uganda) reports "Prof. Pontiano Kaleebu, the Director of Uganda Virus Research Institute-URVI/MRC and chief investigator in the PrEPVacc trial says the testing which began on Tuesday at the research site in Masaka will be clustered in five groups ranging between 18 to 40 years of age from HIV high-risk communities in Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa. He describes the trial as an African-led HIV vaccine efficacy trial which is directly coordinated by Ugandan scientists and one of its kind to be conducted outside the United States of America. Professor Kaleebu says that they are going to run a two-ways prevention study that will include administering of both oral PrEP and injectable vaccine within the same trial, adding that in the first phase of six months, the selected volunteers are going to be monitored for their responses. He adds that such a significant HIV vaccine trial conducted in Uganda presented to them two great opportunities which include growing their capacities in conducting big studies as well as earning confidence in the scientific research world.”

The Guardian (UK) quotes researcher Sheena McCormack: “Its results will be valuable for informing future implementation and uptake strategies by local stakeholders and champions across east and southern Africa where PrEP uptake is currently low” and Ugandan activist Milly Milly Katana… member of the project’s steering committee, said the trial was timely. ‘The implementation of the PrEPVacc trial is coming at a time when the world is more appreciative of vaccines in managing global pandemics like HIV and Covid-19 … The world, especially women, need more interventions that can protect individuals from contracting HIV.’”

Watch video on NTV (Uganda), including an interview with Prof Kaleebu.

PrEPVacc (SAMRC) - A Phase IIb three-arm, two-stage HIV prophylactic vaccine trial with a second randomization to compare TAF/FTC to TDF/FTC as pre-exposure prophylaxis.

National Clinical Trial Number: N/A

Principal Investigator(s): Dr Nishanta Singh (Verulam CRS)

PrEPVacc is a new African-led, European-supported HIV prevention study running in East and Southern Africa from 2018 to 2023.

PrEPVacc News from South African Medical Research Council