Johnson & Johnson discontinues HIV vaccine trial after failing to prevent infections

Johnson & Johnson announced on Wednesday that it was discontinuing its trial of an HIV vaccine after it proved to be ineffective against preventing infections. The failure of the vaccine trial marks a major setback in the development of a vaccine to prevent the spread of HIV, a virus that can easily mutate and evade the immune system. 

"It's not the outcome we had hoped for, unfortunately," said a spokesperson for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a J&J partner in the trial.

"The development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine has been a considerable scientific challenge, but we will learn from this study and continue forward."

The “Mosaico” trial for the vaccine began in 2019 in over 50 sites and was tested on around 3,900 men and transgender people—groups vulnerable to the infection. The study involved administering two different types of vaccine over the course of four years. 

According to the World Health Organization, around 650,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2012 and more than 1.5 million people were infected. 

While there have been no successful HIV vaccine trials to date, other companies such as Moderna INC, HVTN, and NIAID are also conducting trials and developing new drugs to slow the infection. 

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to advancing innovation in HIV, and we hope the data from Mosaico will provide insights for future efforts to develop a safe and effective vaccine,” said Penny Heaton, Janssen’s global vaccine lead.