Most HIV-1 vaccine constructs are subtype-specific and designed to prime only one arm of the immune system. Thus, they are not expected to protect against diverse natural HIV-1 infections. Data from vaccine trials suggest that additional epitopes as well as activation of both arms of the immune system may be required for an effective HIV-1 vaccine. As the HIV epidemic continues to spread world wide, the need for an effective vaccine remains urgent. This invention addresses this need through a multi-epitope, multi-clade HIV-1 vaccine construct that will provide a universal vaccine for all parts of the world affected by the epidemic. The design of the construct allows for the addition or deletion of epitopes and contains specific cellular targeting epitopes that should permit optimization for better antigen processing and recognition. The construct might be combined with other epitope based constructs to develop multi-pathogen vaccines.

Inventors: Renu Lal, Sherry Owen

CDC Reference Number: I-013-03/0

USPTO Serial Number: 60/458,880

Patent Number: