Newswise – SEATTLE (EMBARGOED UNTIL 10:00 AM EDT JULY 28, 2002) – Scientists, doctors and other health professionals from the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) will present research results and other news related to HIV , at AIDS 2022, the International AIDS Conference The conference takes place virtually and in person in Montreal, Canada, from July 29 to August 2.
HVTN, based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle with an international network of AIDS and HIV experts, will participate in more than a dozen oral, poster and other presentations. Summaries and information are embargoed until 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 28. To arrange an interview, please contact Sandy Vann, [email protected].
Here are summaries of several representative sessions.
High prevalence of asymptomatic omicron carriage and correlation with CD4+ T cell counts among adults with HIV enrolled in the COVPN 3008 Ubuntu Clinical Trial in Sub-Saharan Africa
Dr. Jessica Andreessen, senior vaccine and infectious disease scientist, who will give this presentation, said the Ubuntu study (CoVPN 3008) provides an opportunity to better understand the COVID-19 pandemic in people living with HIV. People living with HIV make up approximately 80% of the approximately 11,300 individuals enrolled as of July 1, 2022. Planned analyzes include the effectiveness of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines against symptomatic and severe disease of COVID-19 caused by variants that cause anxiety, and immune response to mRNA vaccination in people living with HIV. When Ubuntu began enrollment, a high percentage of participants who joined the study were found to be living with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections at their first vaccination visits. Participants living with HIV and having low CD4 counts were more likely to also be living with SARS-CoV-2 infections, regardless of whether they already had antibodies from a past infection. “These findings highlight the urgent need to better characterize how immunocompromise due to HIV affects an individual’s chances of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and their ability to clear the infection and fully recover,” Andriesen said.
Session Type: Oral Presentation. Late Breaker Track C.
Date, time, location: Tuesday, August 2, 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Room 517d/Channel 2.
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Administration of the broadly neutralizing CD4-binding site-directed antibody VRC07-523LS in dual and triple antibody combinations with 10-1074, PGT121, and/or PGDM1400: effect on pharmacokinetics compared with VRC07-523LS alone
“We found in the antibody-mediated prevention (AMP) studies that a broadly neutralizing antibody can prevent HIV infection, but only if the infecting strain is highly susceptible to the antibody,” said first author and lead author Stephen R. Walsh, MD, Ph.D. of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “To improve this, we are testing newer antibodies that cover more strains of HIV, and we are testing combinations of these antibodies to try to get broader coverage of the global diversity of HIV. One antibody we are testing is called VRC07-523LS and it covers more strains of HIV than the AMP antibody. The VRC07-523LS antibody has a half-life in the human body of about 55 days, which means we wouldn’t have to give it to people as often as the AMP antibody. When we combined VRC07-523LS with other anti-HIV antibodies, the half-life in the human body was about 52 days, which is really no different. This is important because it shows that the level of VRC07-523LS in the body does not change if it is given alone or in combination with other anti-HIV antibodies.”
Session Type: E-Poster.
Date, time, place: Sunday, July 31, starting at 3:30 p.m., on the conference website and at the Palais des Congrès, second floor.
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Analysis of the HVTN 702 phase 2b-3 HIV-1 vaccine trial in South Africa assessing RV144 antibody and T-cell correlates of HIV-1 acquisition risk
First author and presenter Dr Zoe Moody, senior scientist in the Division of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Fred Hutch, said this study addresses the critical question of whether the immune responses that correlate with HIV in the Thai RV144 trial apply to other vulnerable populations. “Although the related vaccine regimen studied in HVTN 702 in South Africa did not prevent participants from acquiring HIV, the trial gives us a unique opportunity to answer this important question and suggests why the vaccine regimen did not work,” she said . The study showed that among vaccinees with a specific type of high-binding antibody response, vaccine-specific CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with 51%-60% lower vulnerability to HIV. Conversely, among those with low binding antibody responses, CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with a 2.2- to 3.6-fold higher vulnerability to HIV. “Our findings are consistent with the correlative results from RV144, raising the possibility that vaccination may elicit strong binding antibody responses, along with strong CD4+ T-cell responses, to achieve protection against HIV,” Moody said.
Session Type: Poster. Late Breaker Track A.
Date, time, place: Saturday, July 30, 9 am
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Analysis of immune correlates of the Imbokodo HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial
First author and presenter Avi Kenny, a PhD student in biostatistics at the University of Washington, said this presentation was about the Imbokodo (HVTN 705) clinical trial, which enrolled 2,600 women in sub-Saharan Africa and was designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of a new vaccine against Ad26 vector-based HIV. “Although the vaccine did not show significant efficacy in preventing HIV-1 acquisition, a secondary analysis assessed whether any of a prespecified set of antibody and T-cell biomarkers was associated with risk of HIV acquisition or vaccine efficacy.” “Although there were no statistically significant associations, the subgroup of vaccine recipients with the highest levels of a specific biomarker measuring antibodies that bind to the surface of HIV’s envelope protein had the lowest rate of HIV-1 acquisition,” Kenny said. . “This hypothesis-generating finding provides a useful direction for future vaccine research, indicating a target for favoring candidate vaccines that generate more frequent and higher levels of the specific biomarker.”
Session Type: Oral Presentation. Late Breaker Track A.
Date, time, place: Saturday, July 30, 11:47 a.m., Room 511/Channel 7.
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COVID-19 and HIV: Community Engagement Lessons Learned and Applied from Two Pandemics
Lessons learned about community engagement from the past 20 years of HVTN trials have informed the success of similar efforts in support of COVID-19 vaccine research. Now that the COVID-19 vaccine trials are reaching their conclusions, what lessons can be applied back to HIV vaccine research when those trials resume? Presenters will share how the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), building on previous community engagement successes in HVTN, the success of these efforts in COVID-19 vaccine trials, including engaging BIPOC communities, engaging faith-based organizations, and Native American or indigenous communities, the use of a participant screening registry, and the use of infographics and video for social media and marketing campaigns. As HIV vaccine trials begin to resume, presenters will also share how these COVID-19 successes are being applied back to HIV research, addressing pre-pandemic challenges with slow study enrollment. This Global Village session will be presented and moderated by Gail Browder, HVTN Associate Director of Social Behavioral Sciences and Community Engagement, and Dr. Stephan Wallace, HVTN Director of External Relations. Additional participants and panelists will include HTVN Community Engagement Project Managers Rafael Gonzalez, USA and Puerto Rico; Kagisho Baepanye, East and Sub-Saharan Africa; Luciana Camel, Argentina and Brazil; and Patricia Segura, Mexico and Peru.
Session Type: Global Village Session.
Date, time, place: Sunday, July 31, 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Global Village Channel/Room 2.
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Interfaith Pre-Conference: Taking Action to Overcome HIV Stigma and Discrimination
In advance of AIDS 2022, Dr. Ulysses W. Burley III, founder of UBtheCURE LLC, will facilitate a two-day event featuring workshops, networking opportunities and presentations by and for faith leaders addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Session topics include:
- Recommendations of affected individuals and communities in dialogue with religious leaders.
- Theological principles that guide religious groups to overcome stigma and discrimination.
- Using trust and access to maintain epidemic control and advance prevention.
- Innovations to address HIV stigma and discrimination.
- The impact of new testing tools and methodologies.
- How optimal pediatric HIV treatment paves the way to destigmatizing children.
- A long-acting injection to treat HIV.
- PREP and PEP: essential tools to eliminate stigma.
- Monitoring and evaluation frameworks that can be adapted to religious interventions to address stigma and discrimination.
UBtheCURE is a Chicago-based consulting firm at the intersection of faith, health, and human rights, with expertise in HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Although Burleigh’s formal training is in immunology and cancer epidemiology, his primary work has been in HIV and AIDS education, awareness, advocacy and capacity building in faith contexts.
Session Type: Pre-Event.
Date, Time, Location: Wednesday, July 27th and Thursday, July 28th, 8am to 5:45pm both days, La Plaza Centre-Ville-EVO in Montreal.
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Documentary Screening: “My Faith, My Story: HIV in the Southern United States”
Dr. Ulysses W. Burley will also host a screening of the documentary My Faith, My Story: HIV in the American South on behalf of the US HIV/AIDS Faith Coalition and HIV/AIDS Awareness Day of the National Faith. Burley co-founded both the organization and the recognition event. He and Khadija Abdullah, executive…
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