The HIV Vaccine Translational Research (HVTR) Laboratory at THSTI, in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a global non profit, is steering efforts to design a preventive vaccine against HIV. “Where prevention is concerned, this is one of the cleverest viruses we have ever seen. It can develop so rapidly that it can get past any immune defences. It is a virus that attacks the immune system, so it needs to figure out most quickly how to protect itself from the immune system and it does that by rapidly mutating. This is why this research is so important,” said Prof Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director, THSTI, while speaking to the Indian Express.
The laboratory aims to develop a vaccine that would elicit an immune response capable of neutralising a broad spectrum of HIV immunogens.
Dr Jayanta Bhattacharya, Principal Investigator at the laboratory explained that there are individuals who make antibodies that can kill a wide array of viruses circulating globally. Work is underway to identify such individuals to develop the antibodies.
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/at-a-lab-in-faridabad-efforts-to-develop-a-vaccine-for-hiv-5324951/lite/