The first doses of an experimental HIV vaccine that uses Moderna’s mRNA technology have been given to participants in a phase 1 clinical trial, the company announced late in January.



The trial is being conducted in partnership with the nonprofit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Researchers are testing whether an mRNA-based vaccine that delivers the instructions for HIV-specific antigens can induce certain immune responses.



These antigens, also known as immunogens, were developed by scientific teams at IAVI and Scripps Research. A “proof-of-concept” trial last year found that one of these immunogens generated the desired immune response — priming the right kinds of B cells — in 97 percent of participants.