Two HIV vaccine trials show proof of concept for pathway to broadly neutralizing antibodies

A decades-long scientific challenge in HIV vaccine development has been finding a way to train the immune system to produce antibodies that can target many variants of the virus. Traditional approaches haven't worked -- largely because HIV mutates rapidly and hides key parts of itself from the immune system. Now, a new study combining data from two separate phase 1 clinical trials shows that a targeted vaccine strategy can successfully activate early immune responses relevant to HIV, and, in one trial, further advance them -- a key step toward a long-sought goal in vaccine development.