HVRRICANE

Targeting HIV reservoirs in children with HIVIS DNA and MVA-CMDR vaccines.

HVRRICANE is the first combined therapeutic HIV vaccine study on children born with HIV treated within the first months of life. It aims to develop and evaluate therapeutic (HIVIS DNA and MVA-CMDR) vaccine effects on the child’s viral reservoir and immune response.

Why is HVRRICANE needed?


An estimated 3.4 million children are living with HIV worldwide. Immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) is recommended for infants with HIV, but maintaining life-long adherence is difficult. Transient virus control can be influenced by early ART that limits HIV reservoirs. However, to compensate for the limitations of early ART, additional strategies to provide persistent immune surveillance need to be sought.

Data generated by EPIICAL have shown that a mix of different immunotherapeutic strategies seems to be the most promising way to allow for ART-free HIV remission. HIV therapeutic DNA vaccine can be an essential component of this mix. For this reason, HVRRICANE will further examine the role of therapeutic HIV vaccines in reducing HIV reservoirs in early-treated children living with HIV. The knowledge generated from this project will contribute to further HIV research on remission and cure.

What questions is HVRRICANE trying to answer?


  • Are the HIV vaccines safe?
  • Is there a scientifically significant decrease of the HIV reservoirs after the vaccination?

Find out more about HVRRICANE on EPIICAL’s website.

This project has received funding from Penta and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award No. U01AI135941.