Subject: Test Results Released On AIDS Vaccine By MicroGeneSys Inc. 
Date: Published: 5/2/88 60 lines
Source:  WALL STREET JOURNAL. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

   Test Results Released
   On AIDS Vaccine
   By MicroGeneSys Inc. 

   Federal scientists said an experimental AIDS vaccine
prompted an immune response in healthy volunteers, but
questions remain about dosage levels and whether such
responses can protect people against acquired immune
deficiency syndrome.
   Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Disease, a unit of the National Institutes of
Health, administered the vaccine to 59 healthy and uninfected
volunteers.  They used a synthetic vaccine made by
MicroGeneSys Inc. of West Haven Conn.
   In the test, which used a graduated dosage, six of 15
volunteers who were innoculated with 40 micrograms of the
vaccine developed an antibody response to the outer envelope
protein of the virus.  Volunteers vaccinated with 10 or 20
micrograms didn't develop an antibody response, the company
said.
   Franklin Volvovitz, chairman and president of
MicroGeneSys, added in a telephone interview on Friday that
some of the chimpanzees in earlier tests showed evidence of a
second type of immune response -- a proliferation of their
lymphocytes, or certain white blood cells.  But human
volunteers haven't yet demonstrated any such reactions, he
said.
   The researchers said volunteers experienced some redness
and swelling at the site of the injection, along with
flu-like symptoms and fevers, but added that these are common
responses to vaccination and that they believed the vaccine
is safe.
   The trial is to be broadened to include more patients, and
the dosages increased up to 160 micrograms, the company and
NIAID said.  However, Mr. Volvovitz sharply criticized and
dismissed as "materially inaccurate" earlier news reports
that this step was being taken because earlier administration
had failed to produce the hoped-for immune response.
   Observers were somewhat cautious about interpreting the
preliminary report, which was made at a meeting of the
American Federation for Clinical Research in Washington on
Saturday.  However, it is generally thought that in order to
be effective, a vaccine must do more than stimulate the
production of antibodies since most AIDS patients develop
antibodies and later die of the disease.
   Separately, Repligen Corp., Cambridge, Mass., said its
scientists, along with researchers from the National Cancer
Institute, Public Health Service and Duke University,
identified a small fragment from the outer coat of the virus
that may be helpful in developing an AIDS vaccine.

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