China develops its first AIDS vaccine

Beijing: China claimed to have successfully developed the nation's first AIDS vaccine which

the government claimed was "safe and possibly effective" in combating the disease that is spreading fast in the country on Friday.

Clinical trials indicate China's first AIDS vaccine is safe and possibly effective, a senior official said here.

Forty-nine healthy people who received the injection showed no serious adverse reactions after 180 days, proving the vaccine was safe, head of the pharmaceutical registration department of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), Zhang Wei said.

The recipients appeared immune to the HIV-1 virus 15 days after the injection, indicating the vaccine worked well in stimulating the body's immunity, said Zhang.

The results mark the end of the first phase of the clinical trials of the AIDS vaccine, Zhang told the media.

The first phase was launched in Nanning, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on March 12 last year.

The volunteers, aged between 18 and 50, had received the vaccine by October 20.

They were divided into eight groups with six groups receiving a single AIDS vaccine and two other groups being injected with a combined AIDS vaccine.

If the test enters the second phase, more volunteers will be recruited, especially from the high-risk groups, deputy head of the Regional Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Chen Jie said.

The State Food and Drug Administration approved the first phase of clinical trials of the new AIDS vaccine in November 2004.