Researchers at WHV tested proteins previously manufactured for the ongoing HVTN 124 Phase I trial of PDPHV, its investigational DNA-prime/protein-boost vaccine, to determine their utility for future use. They confirmed that these proteins continue to demonstrate an excellent stability profile, which indicates they will be effective for use in WHV’s next Phase IIa clinical trial of PDPHV.
PDPHV is the first and only HIV vaccine candidate to use four recombinant HIV Env proteins. This multivalent approach is important because it is designed to protect against the diverse HIV strains around the world. It is hoped that PDPHV will enter a Phase IIa clinical trial in 2020.
The validation of PDPHV proteins shows that the timeline and cost to advance to the Phase IIa trial will be significantly reduced. Typically, the manufacturing of proteins for HIV vaccines is quite cumbersome and expensive given relatively low yields of recombinant HIV Env and the complexities of the process to purify the proteins for the vaccine.
For more information on WHV’s vaccine approach, please visit Our Approach.
