Original story

Lancet Web Quarterly 2007/1

Aids vaccine wins WHO approval - Ethics Committee fears precedent

*The World Health Organization has given its approval to the LT vaccine. The WHO decision was only reached after intense discussions and on a split vote. *

The LT-vaccine is a compound of numerous ingredients, all of which resemble vaccines in their own right. A part of the ingredients are gene-manipulated viroids, with the task of penetrating the HIV-virus and preventing its operation in the body. Viroids are microbes, smaller and simpler in structure than viruses, but larger than prions. First discovered in the 1970s, they consist of a single strand of nucelic acid without a protein coating. In the natural world, they can cause stunting and certain common diseases in plants. The remainder of the vaccine is a compound of varied items - vaccines and antibiotics - designed to promote the patient’s general condition and immune responses.

The argument within the WHO on the use of the LT-vaccine has arisen for two main reasons. The treatment has been shown to be relatively successful in animal trials over a two-year period and in human clinical trials during the last 12 months. In spite of the relatively short trial period, the WHO would like to see the drug placed on the market, since it regards the possible drawback and complications that may emerge are far less significant than the benefits that can be reaped. One faction within the organization argued that the ratification was justified simply on the grounds that there are now more than 60 million HIV-positive cases worldwide, more than twice the total ten years ago.

The Ethics Committee, however, has opposed rapid approval of the drug on the grounds that it will open the doors to pharmaceuticals manufacturers demanding speedy approval for all new drugs targeting dangerous diseases, because the LT-vaccine will set a tempting precedent.

A second source of friction within the international body has been the fears of several eminent research scientists that all too little is known as yet about viroids, and particularly about the prediction of their behaviour after genetic engineering. Some biochemists, for example, have expressed concerns that the viroids might alter the genome of the cell into which they penetrate for their own purposes. In this way, it is argued that in certain cases a viroid might actually strengthen the virus and expand its properties, giving rise to an even more difficult disease and a worse epidemic than we face today.

Medical Excelsoir, the company responsible for developing the vaccine, has promised in an extensive PR campaign that it will not be grabbing vast profits from the drug, but will keep prices within reasonable limits. According to the company’s press releases, the manufacturing costs of a single dosage of the vaccine are somewhere around USD 2,000.

According to a toughly-worded statement issued by the Ugandan Ministry of Health, the UN and the WHO must provide financial assistance to third-world countries to ensure the supply of the LT-vaccine, or it will simply become the property of the developed countries, and the epidemic will continue to spread.

Toteuma-arvio 2026

Toteuma lyhyesti

  • Ilmiön toteuma: 1/5
  • Toteuma viiden vuoden tarkkuudella: ei; arviointi-ikkuna on 2002–2012
  • Toteuma väljemmällä aikahorisontilla: ei, vain tutkimusasteella
  • Ilmiön ydin: HIV-tartunta voidaan ehkäistä tai hoitaa hyväksytyllä rokotteella.

HIV-rokotteita tutkitaan edelleen, mutta yhtään ehkäisevää tai terapeuttista HIV-rokotetta ei ole hyväksytty yleiseen käyttöön. Tehokas antiretroviraalinen lääkitys ja ennaltaehkäisevät lääkkeet muuttivat epidemiaa, mutta ne eivät ole tarinan ydinilmiö eli rokote.

Johtopäätös: ennusteen varsinainen ydin ei ole toteutunut.