Replies to post #3043 on Sons and Daughters of BBCMF , Dow 30 With Point an

[mick]

Merck announces vaccination and enrollment are discontinued in phase II trials of Merck's investigational HIV vaccine candidate (MRK) 51.70 +0.32 : Co announces vaccination in a phase II clinical trial of the co's investigational HIV vaccine is being discontinued because the vaccine was not effective. The announcement was made today by the co-sponsors of this clinical trial, Merck, and the H.I.V Vaccine Trials Network, which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The trial, called S.T.E.P, was an international phase II "test of concept" trial in uninfected volunteers at high risk for acquiring HIV infection. The independent Data Safety Monitoring Board for S.T.E.P reviewed safety data and results of an interim efficacy analysis of the study, and recommended that vaccination be discontinued because the S.T.E.P trial will not meet its efficacy endpoints. Study investigators have been instructed to discontinue vaccinating volunteers in this study and to monitor them in accordance with the study protocol.