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South Asia

India AIDS vaccine ready for clinical studies

NEW DELHI - India is developing a a vaccine for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a prototype of which is ready for pre-clinical studies, the Indian government told parliament.

"A prototype of the candidate vaccine for AIDS is under development under the National Jai Vigyan Science & Technology Mission of the Department of Biotechnology. The vaccine is based on plasmid DNA and MVA approaches. The vaccine candidate is ready for pre-clinical toxicological studies," federal Junior Minister for Science Bachi Singh Rawat said in a written reply to a question.
India faces serious problems with the spread of the disease, according to the World Bank and other authorities. A recent report said that nearly 1 percent (4 million persons) of the adult population is estimated to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. In six states, more than one percent of the general population is HIV positive based on antenatal clinic surveys, the World Bank said.

Almost 90 percent of the cases reported fall within the most economically productive age group of 15 to 44 and one in four cases of HIV in India is among women. HIV sentinel surveillance surveys indicate infection rates between 1 to 2 percent among antenatal mothers. Given India's large population, a mere 0.1 percent increase in the prevalence rate would increase the number of adults living with HIV/AIDS by over half a million persons. HIV/AIDS is already affecting India's children. Even as long ago as the end of 1999, UNAIDS estimated that approximately 160,000 children in India under age 15 were living with HIV/AIDS. That figure has risen dramatically since.

In another collaborative effort by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Ministry of Health and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, USA, a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) based HIV-I Subtype 'C' Vaccine is being developed. The prototype of this vaccine is now undergoing pre-clinical toxicological studies, he said.

The prototype HIV-I vaccine candidate consisting of six components developed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, has the potential as preventive vaccine. The results so far have indicated that the vaccine candidate induces a robust and broadbased immune response against HIV-I in immunized experimental animals. Rawat said in the Modified Vaccinia Ankara based Subtype 'C' vaccine six consensus genes have been inserted into a MVA, which would act as a vehicle for the vaccine. The identification of consensus sequence and further cloning of the genes into a MVA vector have been completed. The prototype vaccine is undergoing pre-clinical toxicity studies, he added.

(Asia Pulse/PTI)

Jul 29, 2003

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