HIVresearcher

Strong T cell responses to HIV have been demonstrated hundreds of times in the HIV field already, and an HIV T cell vaccine that targeted conserved viral proteins has already been evaluated by a Merck phase II clinical trial. It was shown to demonstrate no effect on viral loads and actually increased the rate of viral acquisition in certain populations. Why do you believe your vaccine would have any different results?

Thank you for the reply, but don't these elite controllers typically control infection so well because they possess MHC allelles that bind peptides in areas of proteins (in particular gag I believe) that can't be mutated away without severe loss of viral fitness? Are you able to get enough coverage from the peptides you're immunizing with to cover these exact areas and still be confident they'll bind an array of MHC types?

Also, what are you're feelings on the RV144 Thai trial that showed low but positive efficacy against HIV acquisition most likely mediated by antibodies?

Good luck with your work