Two Paths Pave Way for Development of a Preventive HIV Vaccine

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Commentary Offers Perspective on Past and Current Efforts

Since efforts to develop a preventive HIV vaccine began in the 1980s, tension has existed between advocates for quickly moving vaccine candidates into human testing (an “empirical approach”) and those seeking more basic research on HIV and immune responses to natural infection as a critical precursor to vaccine design (a “theoretical approach”). In a new commentary, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, offer a historical perspective on the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine through the lens of these two vaccine development strategies, and describe how they influence current promising approaches in HIV vaccinology.