RV 144, or the Thai trial, was an HIV vaccineclinical trial that was conducted in Thailand between 2003 and 2006. It used a combination of two HIV vaccines that had each failed in earlier trials. Participants were vaccinated over the course of 24 weeks beginning in October 2003 and were then tested for HIV until July 2006.[1] The results of the study were publicized in September 2009. The initial report showed that the rate of HIV infection among volunteers who received the experimental vaccine was 31% lower than the rate of HIV infection in volunteers who received the placebo.[2][3] This reduction was not large enough for the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand to support approving the vaccine; it would have licensed it if the reduction had been 50% or more.[4]
The trial collaborators have stated that results of this trial give the first supporting evidence of any vaccine being effective in lowering the risk of contracting HIV.[5] On October 20, 2009, the organizers released full results of the study through publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented them at the AIDS Vaccine Conference in Paris.[2]
^ abRerks-Ngarm, S.; Pitisuttithum, P.; Nitayaphan, S.; Kaewkungwal, J.; Chiu, J.; Paris, R.; Premsri, N.; Namwat, C.; De Souza, M.; Adams, E.; Benenson, M.; Gurunathan, S.; Tartaglia, J.; McNeil, J. G.; Francis, D. P.; Stablein, D.; Birx, D. L.; Chunsuttiwat, S.; Khamboonruang, C.; Thongcharoen, P.; Robb, M. L.; Michael, N. L.; Kunasol, P.; Kim, J. H.; Moph-Taveg, I. (2009). "Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to Prevent HIV-1 Infection in Thailand". New England Journal of Medicine. 361 (23): 2209–2220. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0908492. PMID19843557.