Fowlpox virus vaccines for HIV and SHIV clinical and pre-clinical trials

DNA prime and recombinant fowlpox virus (rFPV) boost vaccines were designed to express multiple HIV or SIV antigens for use in human clinical trials and in pre-clinical trials in macaques. Three sets of vaccines with matching HIV or SIV antigen sets, modified for vaccine safety considerations, were constructed and shown to express the relevant proteins. The rFPV vaccines with inserts at up to three sites, were stable on passage in chick cell culture, including during GMP manufacture of vaccines for human Phase I clinical trials. Cellular and humoral immunogenicity in mice was demonstrated using a DNA prime/rFPV boost and vaccinia virus challenge model. These data establish a preliminary safety and efficacy profile for these multigenic vaccines suggesting they are suitable for advanced development as candidate HIV vaccines.