Some COVID-19 vaccines could increase risk of HIV, researchers warn
It is unclear why Ad5 increased the risk of HIV infection in the trial, but following these findings, the National Institutes of Health, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, recommended against using the strain in vaccines.
California-based ImmunityBio received approval from the Food and Drug Administration last week to begin preliminary testing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, according to the LA Times. The vaccine uses Ad5 to deliver coronavirus proteins into the body to trigger an immune response which hopefully protects against infection.
However, the company’s CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong insists that ImmunityBio’s Ad5 has four deleted genes that reduce the immune responses it triggers.
“It’s 90% muted,” he told Science Mag.
Two other coronavirus vaccine contenders containing the modified virus are currently in advanced trials in Russia and Pakistan, according to the outlet.
COVID-19 vaccines currently in development by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca use different adenoviruses as vectors to deliver the proteins, it added.
After 5 monkey deaths, USDA issues warning to UL's New Iberia research center
The New Iberia Research Center is the nation’s largest academically affiliated, nonhuman primate research center. NIRC is home to more than 8,500 nonhuman primates, according to the university.
The center has recently been noted for the role it played in the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the first fully tested COVID-19 immunization approved for emergency use.
The center has received federal fines in the past, including one for $100,000 in 2017 to settle six complaints about its lab, according to the Associated Press. The university did not admit any wrongdoing at the center under the settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.