--- title: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in... description: Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research have developed an HIV vaccine that generates broadly neutralizing antibodies in non-human... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study | daily.dev og:description: Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research have developed an HIV vaccine that generates broadly neutralizing antibodies in non-human... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/fHjlcJjR1.png og:image:alt: New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research have developed an HIV vaccine that generates broadly neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates — the best HIV-fighting antibody response ever recorded in primates. The vaccine uses a 'germline targeting' approach, guiding naive B cells through a priming shot and a series of booster shots to produce antibodies capable of recognizing HIV despite its rapid mutation and glycan camouflage. Around 44% of rhesus macaques produced broadly neutralizing antibodies after vaccination. The research, published in Nature, is the result of 14 years of collaboration. Human trials have already begun under the Phase 1 IAVI G004 trial, with plans to evaluate the full regimen in future clinical studies. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 1 discussion and 134 comments across hackernews (as of 2026-07-28). **TL;DR:** The community is cautiously skeptical about the HIV vaccine news, noting it's still pre-clinical (rhesus macaque results), while a large portion of the thread debates whether PrEP already constitutes a 'solved problem' — a framing most commenters push back on due to cost, access, compliance, and global equity concerns. **Sentiment:** 25% positive · 45% mixed · 30% skeptical **The case for** - A successful vaccine would be a one-time or short-series intervention, far more convenient and cost-effective than lifelong PrEP regimens. - The novel approach of sequentially priming B-cell development is seen as scientifically interesting and potentially applicable to other diseases. - Even a partially effective vaccine (not 100%) could slow transmission enough to drive incidence toward eradication. - A vaccine could protect people before sexual activity begins, unlike PrEP which requires anticipating exposure. **The pushback** - Results are only from rhesus macaques (44% efficacy) and Phase I human trials are just beginning — many HIV vaccines have failed at this stage. - PrEP framing as a 'solved problem' ignores massive access barriers in low-income countries, especially after USAID/PEPFAR cuts. - Pre-clinical animal results routinely fail to translate to humans; community veterans express fatigue from repeated false dawns. - Some worry a vaccine could cause behavioral risk compensation, with people acting as if fully protected. **By community** - hackernews (mixed): Commenters are intellectually engaged but tempered by historical skepticism, splitting energy between cautious scientific interest and a sprawling debate over PrEP access, global equity, and sexual behavior. **Hottest debate:** Whether PrEP already constitutes a 'practically solved problem' for HIV prevention, with sharp disagreement over cost, global access, compliance burden, and whether framing it that way undermines the case for a vaccine. **Open questions** - Will the immune response seen in macaques translate to humans, given the long history of HIV vaccine failures in Phase I/II trials? - Could combining antiretroviral therapy with this vaccine approach lead to a functional cure for existing HIV-positive individuals? - How would a vaccine be distributed equitably in low-income countries, especially given the dismantling of USAID/PEPFAR infrastructure? **Highlights** > Who's waiting? The problem is the populations we need to distribute it to can least afford it. The reason we want a vaccine is because there's a huge logistics difference between a twice yearly injection and the real magic of something more like an MMR shot where one dose is usually effective for life. > — [XorNot on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083612) > The most interesting point of the article for me is that this vaccine appears to be a series of shots which act as a curriculum for the immune system. Each one slightly different and targeting a different stage of B-cell development. I've never thought of vaccine series working like that, so it was a new and impressive idea. > — [iandanforth on hackernews · 3 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49084019) > Tested on rhesus macaques. Worked well for 44% of them. It's a positive step, but still a fair way off for humans. > — [AndrewDucker on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083610) > > but if someone is unwilling to go on PrEP, why would they suddenly be willing to get a vaccine? Because PrEP at even its best and most modern version requires an update every six months for life. If you're well-off and in SF or NYC or London that might be easy, but there's so many externalities such as: - People who misjudge the risk they're at, so don't go on the meds in the first place - People who live in regions where getting to a doctor even every six months is a challenge - The six-month injection is extraordinarily expensive and a life-time treatment, for a disease you don't even have yet. If instead it becomes a once-in-a-lifetime series of shot, like many other vaccines are already, we can start considering a path to extinguishing the disease, not just teaching people to live with it. Then there's the financial savings of a series of three shots once vs a lifetime of them. > — [cguess on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49085123) > The reason why this is a big deal is because they figured out a way to engineer the type of cells that are hard to create that can readily fight off the virus. In some people they create them already. Here they were able to get the body to create them. I agree it is far off from something in humans but it's a giant leap. The way I see it is like sending Laika in space before we send humans. It's significant and promising of a future where humans might have a vaccine. > — [xutopia on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49085256) **Source threads** - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083314) · 103 points · 134 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [New vaccine platform promotes rare protective B cells](https://daily.dev/posts/new-vaccine-platform-promotes-rare-protective-b-cells-0oqaysjzm) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Amping up T cells to target cancer](https://daily.dev/posts/amping-up-t-cells-to-target-cancer-9kzgfcilx) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A new approach to cancer vaccination yields more powerful T cells](https://daily.dev/posts/a-new-approach-to-cancer-vaccination-yields-more-powerful-t-cells-cpohvm6nf) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Reformulated antibodies could be injected for easier treatment](https://daily.dev/posts/reformulated-antibodies-could-be-injected-for-easier-treatment-fugybfhqz) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Red Queen Bio is using AI to design antibodies for future viruses, WSJ says](https://daily.dev/posts/red-queen-bio-is-using-ai-to-design-antibodies-for-future-viruses-wsj-says-pp83lzsll) · The Next Web · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1"},"datePublished":"2026-07-28T14:03:44.297Z","dateModified":"2026-07-28T15:45:47.545Z","description":"Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and Scripps Research have developed an HIV vaccine that generates broadly neutralizing antibodies in non-human...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c579afeee91f70ab141c671c4b1a3182?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/c579afeee91f70ab141c671c4b1a3182?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hacker News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hacker News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/hn","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hn"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/new-hiv-vaccine-shows-unprecedented-success-in-preclinical-study-fhjlcjjr1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hacker News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hn"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"New HIV vaccine shows unprecedented success in preclinical study"}]} ```