These Clinical Studies May Shape Medicine and Vaccines in 2024

The journal Nature Medicine recently asked researchers to name their top clinical trial picks for 2024, from base editing and a vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

On December 7, 2023, Carrie Arnold and Paul Webster wrote ...with so many rollercoaster years since the start of the pandemic, it is impossible to predict exactly what the biomedical world will deliver in 2024.

Experts identified which trials will likely have an outsized impact on medicine in 2024.

One expert, Carey Hwang, a senior vice president and head of clinical research at Vir Biotechnologycommented, highlighted VIR-1388, a cytomegalovirus (CMV) vector vaccine that induces strong, unique, and sustained T cell responses that can potentially prevent the acquisition of HIV.

The HIV Vaccine Trials Network is conducting a clinical trial at ten sites in the U.S. and two sites in South Africa, with support from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

From a public health perspective, having a vaccine against HIV would have a tremendous impact, commented Hwang.

As of December 8, 2023, the U.S. FDA has not approved any HIV vaccine candidates.