Hubbub brews for HIV vax data

With just a week left until the full results of the Thai HIV vaccine trial are released, researchers are raising questions about whether the linkurl:preliminary data reported last month;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55995/ reveal but a small and misleading glimpse of the full study results. Meanwhile, a major AIDS healthcare provider this morning (October 12) linkurl:called for an independent evaluation of the data.;http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS75947+12-Oct-2009+BW20091012

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Image: Wikimedia commons, NIAID

Results of the $105 million HIV vaccination study, conducted in more than 16,000 Thai volunteers, showed that the vaccine decreased the risk of HIV infection by 31% compared to placebo. A second analysis not disclosed to the public, however, may negate these findings, linkurl:ScienceInsider reported;http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/10/unrevealed-anal.html#more last week. At issue is the inclusion of those subjects who did not rigorously follow the protocols of the study. An analysis in which these individuals were excluded still showed a modest benefit from the vaccine, but it...