Clinical Study of TUTI-16 in Asymptomatic HIV-1 Infected Subjects

HIV-1 Tat protein, a virally encoded toxin, is secreted by HIV-1 infected cells and acts on uninfected cells, rendering them permissive for HIV-1 replication. HIV-1 Tat enhances chronic viral replication and induces immune suppression. Antibodies to Tat inhibit this Tat-mediated transcellular activation in vitro and minimize chronic plasma viremia. HIV-1 Tat activities can be blocked in vitro and in vivo by anti-Tat antibodies.

The Thymon Universal Tat Immunogen (TUTI-16) is a fully synthetic, self-adjuvanting lipopeptide vaccine that is water soluble and administered by subcutaneous injection. In preclinical studies, a priming dose and a three week boost in rats induced a high titer antibody response to the eight known distinct epitope variants of HIV-1 Tat protein. These antibodies block the function of the HIV-1 Tat protein (toxin), which is essential to the maintenance of chronic HIV-1 viremia. Therefore, TUTI-16 has potential as a therapeutic vaccine for HIV-1 in humans.

Inclusion criteria

• Males and Females
• Age ≥18 and ≤50 years at Screening
• HIV-1 seropositive
• asymptomatic and in generally good health
• no prior anti-retroviral therapy within 6 months of screening
• viral load ≥ 3,000 ≤ 100,000 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL
• CD4+ T-cell count ≥ 400/mm3.

Exclusion criteria

• Pregnant/nursing females
• positive for HBV or HCV
• acute Herpetic event
• any clinically significant out-of range laboratory value
• subject is unable or unwilling to discontinue during the study
• participation in another investigational drug/vaccine study within 30 days preceding the first injection of investigational agent in this study.