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Major Herpes Vaccine Trial Launched in Women

A pivotal efficacy trial of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent genital herpes in women began enrolling volunteers this week. The study will determine the vaccine’s ability to prevent genital herpes disease in women who are free of two common types of herpes simplex viruses (HSV): HSV-1 and HSV-2. The trial will eventually enroll 7,550 women in at least 16 sites in the United States.

New HIV Vaccine Aims for Global Effectiveness

Clinical tests began today of a novel vaccine directed at the three most globally important HIV subtypes, or clades. Developed by scientists at the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center, part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the vaccine incorporates HIV genetic material from clades A, B and C, which cause about 90 percent of all HIV infections around the world. “This is the first multigene, multiclade HIV vaccine to enter human trials,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “It marks an important milestone in our search for a single vaccine that targets U.S. subtypes of HIV as well as clades causing the global epidemic.”