Laura Vess of
Gaywired writes in the article
Merck HIV Vaccine Study Shut Down, Volunteers Infected:
An experimental AIDS
vaccine research trial has been terminated after recent findings that the drug has failed to prevent HIV infection in test subjects. According to a press release from the vaccine’s developer, Merck & Co., the vaccine was being tested in uninfected volunteers at high risk for acquiring HIV. Not only did the drug fail to prevent infection, more inoculated volunteers contracted the virus than volunteers who were not inoculated.
Merck & Co. was co-sponsoring the trial with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). After an interim analysis of the research study, study investigators have been instructed to discontinue vaccinating volunteers.
Sympathy very much with those gay men or female sex workers who were infected during the study.
