Safety of and Immune Response to the PENNVAX-B DNA Vaccine With and Without IL-12 in HIV-uninfected Adults

A Phase 1 Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of PENNVAX™-B (Gag, Pol, Env) Vaccine, With or Without IL-12 DNA Plasmid, Delivered Via Electroporation in Healthy, HIV-1-Uninfected Adult Participants

An effective vaccine may be the only way to stop the HIV pandemic. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety of and immune response to the DNA vaccine, PENNVAX-B with or without an IL-12 adjuvant when given using electroporation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HIV Infections
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: PENNVAX-B; Biological: IL-12 DNA plasmids

Detailed Description

An effective and safe vaccine must be developed in order to halt the HIV pandemic. The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and immune response to the HIV DNA vaccine, PENNVAX-B when given with and without an IL-12 adjuvant and delivered via electroporation.

Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to one of three groups and will visit the study clinic 9 times over 9 months. Group 1 will enroll first. Participants in this group will receive 3 mg of the PENNVAX-B or placebo vaccine at Months 0, 1, and 3. Once safety data has been examined for Group 1, Group 2 will begin enrollment. Group 2 participants will receive 3 mg of PENNVAX-B vaccine plus 1 mg of IL-12 adjuvant or placebo at Months 0, 1, and 3. Once Group 1 and Group 2 safety data have been collected Group 3 will begin enrollment. These participants will also receive 3 mg of PENNVAX-B vaccine plus 1 mg of IL-12 adjuvant or placebo at Months 0, 1, and 3.

At clinic visits participants will have physical exams and blood and urine collected. After receiving study injections, participants will be observed in the clinic for at least 30 minutes. In addition, participants will be asked to monitor symptoms for 3 days after each injection.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 48
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642-0001
      • Univ. of Rochester HVTN CRS
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
      • 3535 Market Street CRS
  • Tennessee
    • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232
      • Vanderbilt Vaccine CRS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 50 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Access to a participating HVTN CRS and willingness to be followed for the planned duration of the study
• Ability and willingness to provide informed consent
• Assessment of understanding: volunteer demonstrates understanding of this study and the Step Study results; completes a questionnaire prior to first vaccination, with verbal demonstration of understanding of all questionnaire items answered incorrectly
• Willing to receive HIV test results
• Willingness to discuss HIV infection risks, amenable to risk reduction counseling, committed to maintaining behavior consistent with low risk of HIV exposure through the last required protocol clinic visit
• Assessed by the clinic staff as being at "low risk" for HIV infection on the basis of behaviors within the 12 months prior to enrollment
• Good general health as shown by medical history, physical exam, and screening laboratory tests
• Certain laboratory values. Details on this criterion can be found in the protocol.
• Negative HIV-1 and -2 blood test: US participants must have a negative FDA-approved enzyme immunoassay (EIA).
• Negative Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
• Negative anti-Hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV), or negative HCV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) if the anti-HCV is positive
• Volunteers who were born female: negative serum or urine beta human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) pregnancy test performed prior to vaccination on the day of initial vaccination
• Reproductive status: A volunteer who was born female must agree to consistently use effective contraception from at least 21 days prior to enrollment through the last required protocol clinic visit for sexual activity that could lead to pregnancy, or not be of reproductive potential, or be sexually abstinent
• Volunteers who were born female must also agree not to seek pregnancy through alternative methods, such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization until after the last required protocol clinic visit

Exclusion criteria:

• Within the 12 months prior to enrollment: excessive daily alcohol use or frequent binge drinking or chronic marijuana abuse or any other illicit drug use
• Within the 12 months prior to enrollment: a history of newly acquired or diagnosed syphilis; newly acquired gonorrhea, non-gonococcal urethritis, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2), chlamydia, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), trichomonas, mucopurulent cervicitis, epididymitis, proctitis, lymphogranuloma venereum, or chancroid
• Untreated or incompletely treated syphilis infection
• HIV vaccine(s) received in a prior HIV vaccine trial. For potential participants who have received control/placebo in an HIV vaccine trial, documentation of the identity of the study control/placebo must be provided to the HVTN 080 PSRT, who will determine eligibility on a case-by-case basis.
• Non-HIV experimental vaccine(s) received within the last 5 years in a prior vaccine trial. Exceptions may be made for vaccines that have subsequently undergone licensure by the FDA or for those who have received control/placebo in an experimental vaccine trial.
• Immunosuppressive medications received within 168 days before first vaccination. (Not excluded: [1] corticosteroid nasal spray for allergic rhinitis; [2] topical corticosteroids for mild, uncomplicated dermatitis or [3] oral/parenteral corticosteroids given for non-chronic conditions not expected to recur [length of therapy 10 days or less with completion at least 30 days prior to enrollment])
• Blood products received within 120 days before first vaccination
• Immunoglobulin received within 60 days before first vaccination
• Live attenuated vaccines other than influenza vaccine received within 30 days before first vaccination or scheduled within 14 days after injection
• Investigational research agents received within 30 days before first vaccination
• Intent to participate in another study of an investigational research agent during the planned duration of the HVTN 080 study
• Influenza vaccine or any vaccines that are not live attenuated vaccines and were received within 14 days prior to first vaccination (e.g., tetanus, pneumococcal, Hepatitis A or B, HPV)
• Allergy treatment with antigen injections within 30 days before first vaccination or that are scheduled within 14 days after first vaccination
• Current anti-tuberculosis (TB) prophylaxis or therapy
• Allergy to amide-type local anesthetics
• Presence of implanted electronic medical device (e.g., pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator)
• A history of cardiac arrhythmia, e.g., supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, or frequent ectopy on exam. (Not excluded: sinus arrhythmia)
• Clinically significant medical condition, physical examination findings, clinically significant abnormal laboratory results, or past medical history with clinically significant implications for current health.
• Any medical, psychiatric, occupational, or other condition that, in the judgment of the investigator, would interfere with, or serve as a contraindication to, protocol adherence, assessment of safety or reactogenicity, or a participant's ability to give informed consent
• Serious adverse reactions to vaccines including anaphylaxis and related symptoms such as hives, respiratory difficulty, angioedema, and/or abdominal pain.
• Autoimmune disease
• Immunodeficiency
• Asthma other than mild, well-controlled asthma.
• Diabetes mellitus type 1 or type 2, including cases controlled with diet alone. (Not excluded: history of isolated gestational diabetes.)
• Thyroidectomy, or thyroid disease requiring medication during the last 12 months
• Angioedema within the last 3 years if episodes are considered serious or have required medication within the last 2 years
• Hypertension
• BMI > 30 kg/m2
• Bleeding disorder diagnosed by a doctor (e.g., factor deficiency, coagulopathy, or platelet disorder requiring special precautions)
• Malignancy (Not excluded: a participant with a surgical excision and subsequent observation period that in the investigator's estimation has a reasonable assurance of sustained cure or is unlikely to recur during the period of the study.)
• Seizure disorder
• Asplenia: any condition resulting in the absence of a functional spleen
• Psychiatric condition that precludes compliance with the protocol
• Pregnant or breastfeeding

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group 1; Participants will receive 3 mg of PENNVAX-B vaccine or placebo at Months 0, 1, and 3.	Biological: PENNVAX-B; DNA vaccine encoding the Gag, Pol, and Env proteins of HIV
Experimental: Group 2; Participants will receive 3 mg of PENNVAX-B vaccine and 1 mg of IL-12 vaccine or placebo at Months 0, 1, and 3.	Biological: PENNVAX-B; DNA vaccine encoding the Gag, Pol, and Env proteins of HIV; Biological: IL-12 DNA plasmids; Adjuvant for HIV vaccines
Experimental: Group 3; Participants will receive 3 mg of PENNVAX-B vaccine and 1 mg of IL-12 vaccine or placebo at Months 0, 1, and 3.	Biological: PENNVAX-B; DNA vaccine encoding the Gag, Pol, and Env proteins of HIV; Biological: IL-12 DNA plasmids; Adjuvant for HIV vaccines

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Frequency and severity of local injection/EP site reactogenicity signs and symptoms	Throughout study
Magnitude of local injection/EP site pain as measured by a VAS	Throughout study
Frequency of AEs categorized by MedDRA body system, MedDRA preferred term, severity and assessed relationship to study products; detailed description of all AEs meeting DAIDS criteria for expedited reporting	Throughout study
WBC, neutrophils, lymphocytes, hemoglobin, alkaline phosphatase, platelets, ALT, AST, creatinine, and creatine phosphokinase (CPK)	At baseline and post-vaccinations
Number of participants with early discontinuation of vaccinations and reason for discontinuation	Throughout study
Distribution of responses to questions regarding acceptability of study injections via EP	Throughout study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Frequency of T-cell responses as measured by IFN-γ ELISpot	Two Weeks after the second and third vaccinations
Frequency of CD4+ T cell responses measured by intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) for IFN-γ and/or IL-2 to HIV potential T-cell epitope (PTE) peptide pools representing Gag, Pol, and Env	After the second and third vaccinations
Frequency of CD8+ T cell responses measured by ICS for IFN-γ and/or IL-2 to HIV PTE peptide pools representing Gag, Pol, and Env	After the second and third vaccinations
Frequency of humoral responses detected by HIV-1-specific neutralizing and binding antibody assays from serum samples	Two weeks after last vaccination
Frequency of vaccine-induced positive results with end-of-study HIV serological testing by commercial assays	Throughout study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Jin X, Morgan C, Yu X, DeRosa S, Tomaras GD, Montefiori DC, Kublin J, Corey L, Keefer MC; NIAID HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Multiple factors affect immunogenicity of DNA plasmid HIV vaccines in human clinical trials. Vaccine. 2015 May 11;33(20):2347-53. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.03.036. Epub 2015 Mar 25.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: November 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): October 8, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 14, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 13, 2021
• Last Verified: October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: HIV Seronegativity; HIV Preventive Vaccine
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases; HIV Infections
• Other Study ID Numbers: HVTN 080; 10741 (Other Identifier: CTEP)