Philadelphia Inquirer Profiles Merck’s AIDS Vaccine Research
The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday profiled pharmaceutical company Merck's ongoing AIDS vaccine research. Scientists at Merck are currently conducting early clinical trials of two experimental AIDS vaccines, including 10 Phase I studies involving 1,300 volunteers nationwide. "Merck is seen as having one of the broadest programs out there and is developing a candidate that people look at as one of the lead products," Chris Collins, executive director of the New York-based AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, said. Aventis Pasteur, Wyeth, GlaxoSmithKline, Chiron, VaxGen, AlphaVax and Epimmune are also testing experimental AIDS vaccines, the Inquirer reports (Loyd, Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/1). So far, only VaxGen's AIDSVAX has progressed to Phase III clinical trials, and the results of the trial showed that the vaccine was ineffective at preventing new HIV infections in a large population (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/27).
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