The first AIDS vaccine to be tested in people does not offer general protection to whites but may protect blacks and Asians, vaccine-maker VaxGen said today.
Long-awaited results from VaxGen's trial of AIDSVAX show the vaccine only reduced the rate of HIV infection by 3.8 per cent in 5,400 men and women considered at high risk in the United States and The Netherlands.
When VaxGen's figures were studied closely, they showed that Asians and blacks who got the vaccine had a 67 per cent lower rate of infection that those who got a placebo shot.
"There were 78 per cent fewer HIV infections among black volunteers who received vaccine compared to placebo recipients," the company said.
"Overall what we see is the trial failed," VaxGen President Dr Donald Francis said, but he added: "There was a 500 person subset in this that showed clear efficacy. The challenge here is to see if this a statistical fluke".
Dr. Seth Berkley, president and chief executive officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, called the announcement "disappointing".
There were only 314 blacks and a total of 498 blacks and Asians in the trial, so the numbers are difficult to interpret.
But they offer enough hope for the company to continue development of the vaccine, said Mr Lance Gordon, chief executive of VaxGen.
VaxGen started its trial of AIDSVAX in 1998, giving volunteers seven injections over three years. It said 5,009 got at least three injections and today's release was based on those volunteers.