Mbeya begins enrolment to PrEPVacc clinical trial
The PrEPVacc team at NIMR-MMRC
The first participants at the National Institute for Medical Research – Mbeya Medical Research Centre in Tanzania have enrolled in the PrEPVacc clinical trial in July 2021. Fifteen participants have already enrolled and over 70 so far have begun the screening process. They are the first participants ever to take part in an HIV efficacy trial in Tanzania.
PrEPVacc is, for the first time, trialling two HIV vaccine regimens, and at the same time testing a new form of daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against the existing standard for PrEP.
Findings from PrEPVacc will inform scientists as to whether developing either of the two different combination vaccine regimens for preventing HIV is worthwhile or not; and also, whether a new form of PrEP is as acceptable, safe and effective as the available oral standard PrEP, in women as well as men.
Dr Wiston William, Site Principal Investigator for PrEPVacc at NIMR-MMRC, said that he was pleased that the site, which prior to the clinical trial had established a registration cohort size of over 500 participants, was now underway with the clinical trial.
“We are really pleased at Mbeya to have begun enrolling participants to PrEPVacc’s clinical trial, the first time that participants in Tanzania have taken part in an HIV prevention efficacy trial. The search for an effective HIV vaccine can only take place through clinical trials like this, and we are very proud of all our participants who have stepped forward to help.”
NIMR MMRC undertook its Site Initiation Visit in January 2021 and becomes the second site in PrEPVacc to enrol participants in the clinical trial after the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, located in Entebbe, Uganda.
Dr Eugene Ruzagira, PrEPVacc Trial Director, based at MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, said:
“We’re delighted that Mbeya has become the second site to begin enrolment to PrEPVacc and we congratulate Mbeya’s staff for all their hard work and preparation, and of course all the participants in Tanzania who are helping to move the field of HIV prevention forward.”
PrEPVacc is hoping to recruit a minimum of 1,668 participants across its study sites in southern and eastern Africa, and is funded by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), as part of the EDCTP2 Programme supported by the European Union.
