Defra has granted consent for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to trial a GM vaccine against HIV. The IAVI is also seeking clinical trial authorisations from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Defra has also granted BN ImmunoTherapeutics Inc consent to carry out a further trial of a GM vaccine against prostate cancer. The vaccine will be trialled at 12 sites in England in addition to the 10 sites approved in January this year. BN ImmunoTherapeutics has obtained authorisation from the MHRA.
Both applications have been evaluated by the independent expert group the Advisory Committee of Releases to the Environment (ACRE). In line with ACRE’s advice, precautionary conditions have been attached to the statutory consent for the trial to ensure there is no adverse effect on human health and the environment.
Further background on the applications by BN ImmunoTherapeutics Inc and IAVI, the statutory consent and ACRE’s advice can be found at: http://bit.ly/Tygbk5.