Benzinga | Jan 27, 2022 12:25PM EST

IAVI, Moderna Kickstart HIV Vaccine Antigens Trial Delivered Through mRNA Technology

IAVI, the nonprofit scientific research organization, and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) have administered the first doses of experimental HIV vaccine antigens in a clinical trial.

* The Phase 1 trial, IAVI G002, is designed to test the hypothesis that sequential administration of priming and boosting HIV immunogens delivered by messenger RNA (mRNA) can induce specific B-cell responses and guide toward broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAbs) development.

* The induction of bnAbs is widely considered a goal of HIV vaccination, which is the first step in that process.

* The sites will enroll 56 healthy, HIV-negative adult volunteers. Forty-eight participants will receive one or two doses of eOD-GT8 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644), with 32 receiving the boost Core-g28v2 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644v2-Core).

* An additional eight volunteers will receive the boost immunogen alone. Participants will be monitored for safety for six months after the last vaccination.

* Price Action: MRNA shares are down 2.65% at $150.86 during the market session on the last check Thursday.