HVTN, based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle with an international network of AIDS and HIV experts, will participate in more than a dozen oral, poster and other presentations. Summaries and information embargoed until 10am EDT on Thursday, July 28. To arrange an interview, please contact Sandy Van, [email protected].
Following are summaries of several representative meetings. High prevalence of asymptomatic carriage and association with CD4+ T cell count among adults with HIV enrolled in the COVPN 3008 Ubuntu clinical trial in sub-Saharan Africa Dr Jessica Andriesen, a senior scientist in the field of vaccines and infectious diseases who will give this presentation, said the Ubuntu study (CoVPN 3008) provides an opportunity to further understand the COVID-19 pandemic in people living with HIV. People living with HIV make up about 80% of the approximately 11,300 people enrolled as of July 1, 2022. Planned analyzes include the effectiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines against symptomatic and severe variant-caused COVID-19 disease anxiety and immune response to mRNA vaccination in people living with HIV. As Ubuntu began enrollment, a high proportion of study participants were found to be living with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections at their first vaccination visits. Participants living with HIV and having low CD4 counts were more likely to also be living with SARS-CoV-2 infections, whether or not they already had antibodies from infection in the past. “These findings underscore the urgent need to better characterize how immunosuppression due to HIV affects a person’s chances of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and their ability to clear the infection and make a full recovery,” Andriesen said. Session type: Oral presentation. Late Breaker Track C. Date, time, location: Tuesday, August 2, 11:45 am. to 12:45 p.m., Room 517d/Channel 2.

Administration of the broadly neutralizing CD4 binding site targeting antibody VRC07-523LS in dual and triple antibody combinations with 10-1074, PGT121 and/or PGDM1400: effect on pharmacokinetics compared to administration of VRC07-523LS alone “We found in the antibody-mediated prevention (AMP) studies that a broadly neutralizing antibody could prevent HIV infection, but only if the infecting strain was highly sensitive to the antibody,” said first author and presenter Dr. Stephen R. Walsh, an infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “To improve on this, we’re testing newer antibodies that cover more strains of HIV, and we’re testing combinations of these antibodies to try to get broader coverage of the global diversity of HIV. One antibody we are testing is called VRC07-523LS and it covers more strains of HIV than the AMP antibody. The VRC07-523LS antibody has a half-life in the human body of about 55 days, which means that we would not have to give it to people as often as the AMP antibody. When we combined VRC07-523LS with other anti-HIV antibodies, the half-life in the human body was about 52 days, which is really no different. This is important because it shows that the level of VRC07-523LS in the body remains unchanged whether given alone or in combination with other anti-HIV antibodies.” Session Type: E-poster. Date, time, location: Sunday, July 31, starting at 3:30 p.m., on the conference website and at the Palais des Congrès, second floor.

Analysis of the Phase 2b-3 HVTN 702 HIV-1 vaccine trial in South Africa evaluating RV144 antibody and T cell correlates with risk of HIV-1 acquisition First author and presenter Dr. Zoe Moodie, senior scientist in the division of vaccines and infectious diseases at Fred Hutch, said this study addresses the critical question of whether the immune responses associated with HIV in the RV144 Thai trial also apply to other vulnerable individuals. populations. “Although the relevant vaccine regimen studied in HVTN 702 in South Africa did not prevent participants from HIV, the trial gives us a unique opportunity to answer this important question and indicate why the vaccine regimen did not work,” he said. The study showed that among those vaccinated with a certain type of high-binding antibody response, vaccine-specific CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with 51%-60% lower vulnerability to HIV. On the other hand, among those with low binding antibody responses, CD4+ T-cell responses were associated with 2.2- to 3.6-fold higher susceptibility to HIV. “Our findings are consistent with the correlated results from RV144, raising the possibility that vaccination needs to elicit high-binding antibody responses, along with strong CD4+ T-cell responses, to achieve protection against HIV,” Moodie said. Session Type: Poster. Late Breaker Track A. Date, time, location: Saturday, July 30, 9 a.m

Immunocorrelation analysis of the Imbokodo HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial First author and presenter Avi Kenny, a PhD student in biostatistics at the University of Washington, said this presentation is on the Imbokodo clinical trial (HVTN 705) which enrolled 2,600 women in sub-Saharan Africa and was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of a novel HIV vaccine based on Ad26 vector. “Although the vaccine did not show significant efficacy in preventing HIV-1 acquisition, a secondary analysis assessed whether any of a pre-specified set of antibody and T-cell biomarkers were associated with risk of HIV acquisition or vaccine efficacy. Although there were no statistically significant associations, the subgroup of vaccine recipients with the highest levels of a specific biomarker that measures antibodies that bind to the surface of an HIV envelope protein had the lowest rate of HIV-1 acquisition,” Kenny said. “This hypothesis-generating finding provides a useful direction for future vaccine research, indicating a target site to favor vaccine candidates that generate more frequent and higher levels of that particular biomarker.” Session type: Oral presentation. Late Breaker Track A. Date, time, location: Saturday, July 30, 11:47 a.m., Room 511/Channel 7.

COVID-19 and HIV: Community Engagement Lessons Learned and Applied from Two Pandemics Lessons learned about community engagement from the past 20 years of HVTN trials have informed the success of similar efforts in support of vaccine research for COVID-19. Now that the COVID-19 vaccine studies are reaching their conclusions, what lessons can be applied to HIV vaccine research as these studies continue? Presenters will share how the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) has built on previous community engagement successes at HVTN, the success of these efforts in COVID-19 vaccine studies, including enrollment of BIPOC communities, engagement religious organizations and Native American or Native communities, the use of a participant control registry, and the use of graphics and videos for social media and marketing campaigns. As HIV vaccine studies begin to resume, presenters will also share how these COVID-19 successes are being applied back to HIV research, addressing pre-pandemic challenges with slow study enrollment. This Global Village session will be presented and moderated by Gail Broder, associate director of HVTN’s Social Behavioral Science & Community Engagement Unit, and Dr. Stephaun Wallace, director of External Relations at HVTN. Additional attendees and panelists will include HTVN Community Engagement Project Managers Rafael Gonzalez, USA and Puerto Rico. Kagisho Baepanye, East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Luciana Kamel, Argentina and Brazil. and Patricia Segura, Mexico and Peru. Session Type: Global Village Session. Date, time, location: Sunday, July 31, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Global Village Channel/Room 2.

Interfaith Pre-Conference: Taking Action to Address HIV Stigma and Discrimination In view of AIDS 2022, Dr. Ulysses W. Burley III, founder of UBtheCURE LLC, will co-host a two-day event that will include workshops, networking opportunities and presentations by and for faith leaders targeting HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Among the session topics are:

Recommendations of affected individuals and communities, in dialogue with faith leaders. Theological principles guiding religious groups to overcome stigma and discrimination. Leveraging trust and access to maintain control of the epidemic and promote prevention. Innovations to address HIV stigma and discrimination. The impact of new testing tools and methodologies. How optimal pediatric HIV treatment paves the way to ending stigma among children. Long acting injection to treat HIV. PREP and PEP: essential tools to end stigma. Monitoring and evaluation frameworks that can be adapted to faith-based interventions to address stigma and discrimination.

UBtheCURE is a Chicago-based consulting firm at the forefront of faith, health and human rights, specializing in HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Although Burley’s formal training is in immunology and cancer epidemiology, his primary work has been in HIV and AIDS education, awareness, advocacy, and faith-based capacity building. Session Type: Pre-conference event. Date, time, location: Wednesday, July 27 and Thursday, July 28, from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. both days, at La Plaza Centre-Ville-EVO, Montreal.

Documentary Screening: “My Faith, My Story: HIV in the US South” Dr. Ulysses W. Burley, will also host a screening of the documentary “My Faith, My Story: HIV in the US South” on behalf of the US HIV/AIDS Faith Coalition and National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Burley co-founded both the organization and the recognition event. He and Khadijah Abdullah, executive…