To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: STEP HIV Vaccine Study to Be Unblinded URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21721E.htm Doctor's Guide November 14, 2007
SEATTLE, WA -- November 14, 2007 -- Merck & Co., Inc. and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) announced that study volunteers in the STEP study of Merck's HIV vaccine (V520) will be told whether they received vaccine or placebo, and all study volunteers will be encouraged to continue to return to their study sites on a regular basis for ongoing risk reduction counseling and study-related tests. Study investigators are being advised this week to provide this information to the volunteers; volunteers will receive additional information about the unblinding process directly from study sites. The study was co-sponsored by Merck & Co., Inc.; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health; and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), which is funded by NIAID. The STEP Study Oversight Committee, which is comprised of representatives from the three study co-sponsors, made the decision to unblind study volunteers following extensive discussion of the STEP results at last week's meeting of the HVTN by researchers, members of the community advisory boards of the study sites and other study site staff, including clinic coordinators and community educators. On Sept. 21, 2007, the trial sponsors announced that vaccinations in the study were discontinued because the vaccine was not effective, and the available results from the study were presented at last week's meeting of the HVTN. SOURCE: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.