India to start HIV vaccine development next year. ICMR

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India to kick start HIV vaccine development next year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2003 10:17:44 PM ]

VADODARA: If South Africa tops the list of countries with 4.5 million

HIV positive people, India is right at its heels, coming in second,

with four million HIV cases.

But when it comes to developing vaccines among the developing

countries, it is Thailand, Brazil and Uganda, who take the lead. In

the wake of the global emergency declared by the US, India has taken

the plunge in developing preventive vaccines.

" Under the prime minister's initiative programme, a chain of research

units in India would join hands to develop vaccine for the subtype C,

which is prevalent in India. The project will begin in May 2004, " R

Gangakhedkar, assistant director of the National Aids Research

Institute (NARI), Pune, one of the institutes to be involved in the

vaccine development programme said.

The other reputed institutes include NIV, NICED, AIIMS, IISC and

NCCS. Addressing the three-day national conference of the Indian

Association for the study of STD and AIDS held in Vadodara on Friday,

Gangakhedkar said, " The virus causing AIDS has global variations or

sub types — America and Europe have `B' type, while Asia and

Australia have `C', `e' and `b' types. This compels India to develop

its own vaccine as we cannot benefit from the vaccines developed in

the West. "

Vaccine development is a tough task, admits Gangakhedkar. " We cannot

bank on the assistance of the developed countries as they would

target diseases endemic to their regions and in this case address

subtypes prevalent in their region.

Second, it is difficult to produce vaccine for HIV as the genomic

sequence of the virus is error- prone and has a tendency to change

its form each time it multiples, " he says.

Elaborating on the clinical trials that will be carried out in the

region, which will focus on preventive, therapeutic and perinatal

vaccines, Gangakhedkar said, " As drug trials on animals have been

considerably successful, we need to conduct human trials. For this,

we have a three-phase investigation where safety of the drug,

immunogenecity (ability to boost immunity response) and the efficacy

(effectiveness) will tested before the vaccine is finally approved. "

" We intend to rope in doctors, NGOs, media and other outreach workers

to create awareness among people about AIDS prevention and also the

need to extend co-operation for clinical trials, " says Gangakhedkar,

pointing at the hindering factors like ethical, legal and social

implications of the research.

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