Comparison of T cell immune responses induced by vectored HIV vaccines in non-human primates and humans

Following the disappointing outcome of the phase IIb test-of-concept step study in which Merck's adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) HIV-1 clade B gag/pol/nef vaccine failed to demonstrate efficacy in HIV high-risk individuals, an extensive review of the trial and preclinical studies which supported the trial is ongoing. One point of interest is how well preclinical nonhuman primate immunogenicity studies predicted what was observed in humans. Here we compare the HIV-1-specific cellular immune responses elicited in nonhuman primates and human clinical trial subjects to several HIV-1 vaccine candidates. We find that although rhesus macaques are immunologically more responsive to vaccination than humans, the hierarchy in potency of single-modality prime-boost regimens using several vector approaches (adenovirus, DNA, and pox vectors) was well predicted. Vaccine approaches using complex formulations such as novel adjuvants (DNA + CRL1005) or mixed-modality prime-boost (DNA/Ad5; Ad5/ALVAC) did not correlate as well between rhesus macaques and humans. Although the immunogenicity of the vaccines and vaccine regimens evaluated were not all accurately predicted, testing in rhesus macaques generally offers an indispensable tool for ranking the immunological potential of HIV-1 vaccine candidates.