(Yicai) Aug. 6 -- A human immunodeficiency virus vaccine developed by a Chinese team has completed the Phase IIa clinical trial, with results showing the jab has potential for long-term immune stimulation.

The Phase IIa trial verified the safety of the HIV vaccine and its ability to trigger an effective immune response in the long term, according to the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention under the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

HIV is a chronic virus with an incubation period of eight to 10 years. There were a total of 1.35 million people with HIV or AIDS in the Chinese mainland at the end of 2024, compared with 1.29 million at the end of 2023, according to CDC data. The mortality rate was 36.3 percent last year.

The HIV jab was developed from the vaccinia Tiantan strain-based smallpox vaccine, which holds the records for the largest number of recipients and the longest safe usage in history, having contributed to the global eradication of smallpox, Lu Hongzhou, director of Shenzhen Third People's Hospital and head of its National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, told Yicai.

Vaccines based on the VTT strain can not only continuously stimulate the immune system but also induce stronger and more durable immune responses, an insider explained to Yicai.

The NCAIDS/STD will launch multi-center Phase IIb and Phase III clinical trials for the HIV vaccine within the next one to two years to verify the vaccine's protective efficacy, the center noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione