MIT researchers develop promising 2-dose HIV vaccine

Team Udayavani, Sep 22, 2024, 11:09 AM IST

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Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have made significant advancements in the development of a more practical HIV vaccine regimen that may require just two doses. The new approach, if successful, could simplify vaccination efforts and increase accessibility in large-scale immunisation programs.

One of the key hurdles in creating an effective HIV vaccine has been the virus’s ability to mutate rapidly, which allows it to evade immune responses. Previous research by the MIT team had shown that a series of escalating doses over two weeks could produce neutralising antibodies. However, this multi-dose regimen was considered impractical for large-scale use.

In their latest study, the MIT team found that administering two doses—a smaller priming dose followed by a larger booster dose just a week later—generated a strong immune response similar to the more intense multi-dose regimen. The findings were published in Interesting Engineering.

The first dose is designed to prime the immune system, preparing it for a more effective response to the second, larger dose. This innovative dosing schedule was developed using computational modeling and tested in mice using an HIV envelope protein as the vaccine.

Currently, clinical trials are underway to test a single-dose version of the vaccine, but the research team plans to set up trials for the two-dose schedule soon. This approach could have broader implications for the development of vaccines beyond HIV.

The team compared different dosing schedules and found that administering 20 percent of the vaccine in the first dose and 80 percent in the second produced antibody responses comparable to the more complicated seven-dose regimen.

The new method is now being tested in non-human primates, marking an important step forward in HIV vaccine research. Each year, more than 10 lakh people are infected with HIV, many of whom lack access to antiviral treatments. A successful vaccine could potentially prevent numerous infections globally.