ZAMBIA— The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, has announced that it has enrolled the first participants for the Multisite Adolescent Girls and Young Women (MAGY) study in Zambia.
IAVI’s new MAGY study is happening at the Centre for Family Health Research in Zambia (CFHRZ) and it will evaluate vaccine and antibody candidates for HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa.
Over the next three years, the MAGY study will collect and analyze a wide range of data from African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) volunteers to inform the development of HIV prevention products.
MAGY is a collaboration among IAVI, CFHRZ, the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI-IAVI) HIV Vaccine Program in Uganda, and the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI) Institute of Clinical Research, Kenya
Also, part and parcel of the MAGY study are the Aurum Institute in Rustenburg, South Africa the Population Council, and the University of Manitoba in Canada.
The study is funded through the Accelerate the Development of Vaccines and New Technologies to Combat the AIDS Epidemic (ADVANCE) program.
ADVANCE is a 10-year cooperative agreement between IAVI and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The goal of ADVANCE is to ensure safe and globally effective HIV vaccine and biomedical prevention products are developed by African and Indian leaders.
Monica Kuteesa, M.D., Ph.D., director of epidemiology at IAVI and co-chief investigator for the MAGY study, “Despite substantial efforts, new HIV infections among AGYW in sub-Saharan Africa remain significantly high. The MAGY study will aid us in understanding whether new approaches for the development of HIV vaccines are applicable to this population given their vulnerability.”
William Kilembe, M.D., MSc, project director of CFHRZ notes that the MAGY study marks a significant milestone for our research team as we strive to better comprehend the vulnerabilities and unique needs of AGYW in our communities.
“Our hope is to develop interventions that can help prevent HIV infections among this vulnerable population,” added Kilembe.
MAGY aims to establish AGYW cohorts that will be prepared to participate in clinical trials to evaluate enhanced broadly neutralizing antibodies as a long-lasting injectable HIV prevention product.
It will also assess and predict the suitability of HIV vaccine candidates for AGYW.
MAGY will enroll 1,200 AGYW who meet eligibility criteria to participate through quarterly clinic visits scheduled over a 36-month period.
The MAGY study will be conducted in compliance with all relevant regulatory and ethical standards, overseen by a team of experienced scientific researchers.
The study emphasizes community-driven participation, with meaningful involvement of AGYW in concept development study implementation, and dissemination.
By understanding the unique needs and vulnerabilities of the AGYW population, researchers hope to develop targeted interventions and ultimately improve global health outcomes.
The fight against HIV/AIDS- Vaccine development
HIV/AIDS has been an ongoing global health crisis for the past four decades, and AGYW from sub-Saharan Africa, aged 15-24 years, face a higher risk of acquiring HIV compared to their male counterparts of the same age, UNAIDS reports.
Additionally, fuelled by gender inequalities, adolescent girls and young women face discrimination that compounds their vulnerabilities to HIV and UNAIDS also notes that they are largely invisible, underserved, and underrepresented in policies, services, and investments.
IAVI notes that this risk is linked to interconnected biological, behavioral, and structural factors, and the MAGY study is part of IAVI’s larger initiative to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) that would be necessary for the development of an HIV vaccine that is protective against a wide spectrum of HIV viruses.
Subsequently, IAVI aims to reduce HIV, TB, and other infectious and emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) through the research, development, and delivery of vaccines, antibody prevention products, and other innovative biomedical solutions.
Critical to this mission is ensuring that IAVI’s innovations are acceptable, affordable, broadly available, and widely adopted.
Historically, access to the newest health technologies has been slow in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
IAVI strives to change that by working to improve access and accelerate global access pathways for biomedical innovations.
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