Nozipho Mlotshwa, a South African lab technician, and her team achieved positive initial results with their HIV vaccine. They observed strong immune responses in rabbits and developed new versions of the vaccine. However, due to the US aid cuts, the results were frozen, and a human trial of another candidate vaccine in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda was suspended.
The main challenge with developing an HIV vaccine lies in the virus's rapid mutation. The Johannesburg team uses mRNA technology, similar to that used in COVID-19 vaccines. They focus on genetic sequences from South African patients who naturally neutralize HIV and aim to replicate this response.
Mlotshwa's team is a part of the South Africa-led BRILLIANT project which aims to build vaccine production within Africa.
Earlier, US President Trump claimed that South Africa was "confiscating" land under a new expropriation act, an assertion the South African government rejected as "misinformation." He further accused the country of "treating certain classes of people very badly" and warned of cutting funding.