HIV Vaccine Concepts Currently Under Evaluation
A vaccine works by presenting pieces of HIV (also called immunogens or antigens) to the body's immune system, resulting in an immune response to viral components (proteins, carbohydrates, etc). When the body is exposed to the real virus, it will have an advantage because it will already have seen parts of the virus. This allows the immune system to target the virus specifically and aggressively. Below are vaccine design concepts that are currently being developed by NIAID:
- DNA
- Live Vectors
- Viral
- Replication-defective (e.g. Herpes virus, Adeno-associated virus, Alphavirus, Sendai virus, Poxvirus, Adenovirus, Measles, Vesicular stomatitis virus)
- Replication-competent (e.g. Adenovirus, Poxvirus)
- Bacterial (e.g. BCG, Listeria, Enteric Shigella, Salmonella)
- Viral Proteins
- Viral Peptide
- Virus-like Particles (VLPs)
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Virus Replicons (e.g. Alphavirus, Vesicular stomatitis virus, Herpes virus)
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Combination strategies
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Live-Attenuated HIV (Not Under Study in Humans)
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Whole-killed or inactivated HIV (Not Under Study in Humans)
In addition, NIAID supports multiple approaches to enhance immune responses generated by the above vaccines:
- Addition of adjuvants that enhance the immune response to the vaccine
- Route and method of delivery of the vaccine
- Dose of the vaccine, the number of immunizations and the timing between them