Chinese scientists announced in Beijing on November 20 they will apply next year for clinical testing rights for two new AIDS vaccines jointly developed with Germany.

Prof. Shao Yiming of the National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control, the country's top AIDS vaccine research body, said today that if the applications are approved, China will be launching its first clinical tests of AIDS vaccines.

Shao said the Chinese and German scientists have co-developed a DNA-based AIDS vaccine and a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine. Tests on animals indicated that the vaccines can increase immunity against HIV.

Scientists from the two countries have applied gene-engineering technology to create a virus that is HIV-like in terms of structure but has no HIV virus nucleic acid, which Shao claimed is safe, as the nucleic acid has been removed from the vaccine.

The move indicates that China, facing the challenge of an increasing incidence of AIDS, is working together with the international community for breakthrough discoveries in AIDS vaccine development.

In a related effort, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative announced at the International AIDS Vaccine Workshop which closed in Beijing today that it will cooperate with China in developing at least two trial AIDS vaccines for clinical evaluation, based on strains of HIV-1 circulating in China. The phase one trials will begin in 2001.

The organization also decided to build least two clinical trial sites in China.

Chinese and foreign AIDS experts participating the workshop believed that it is quite possible to develop a safe AIDS vaccine. They agreed that the biggest problems in the field are technical issues such as virus variation, as well as the huge funding requirements and necessary participation of large number of scientists and people.

Describing the AIDS vaccine development as a program as mammoth as a moon landing, they said the major breakthroughs in the field are relying more and more on close cooperation between developed and developing countries.

They believed that China is one of a few developing countries that have the capacity to launch cooperative programs in the field.

Seth Berkley with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative said at the workshop that China is the largest vaccine producer in the world which has sufficient research and clinical skills to contribute to the global effort, and it is of great importance for China to join the global AIDS vaccine development efforts.

So far, over 400,000 cases of HIV have been reported in China. This high figure will spur scientists to launch research on gene variation and epidemiological studies, and on cloning of characteristic strains for AIDS research.

Margaret Johnston from the US National Institute of Health said no significant efficacy information is yet available on any current AIDS vaccine, though over 30 candidate HIV vaccines have been evaluated in over 60 clinical trials worldwide since 1987.

It is reported that over 40 million people worldwide have contracted AIDS, and 11 million have died from the deadly disease since it was discovered in 1981.

Though the promotion of AIDS prevention education has proved effective in reducing the risk of infection, the spread of AIDS has not slowed.

Statistics show that currently over 16,000 people are infected with HIV each day worldwide, doubling the figure before 1996.

Prof. Shao Yiming, of China's leading AIDS research center, stressed that "it is crucial to attach equal importance to prevention and development of vaccines in tackling the deadly disease." (Xinhua)