Moderna is touting the effectiveness of an experimental HIV vaccine after publishing the results of its first clinical trial, which showed a 97% effectiveness, the company said Monday in a statement.

Moderna, a Boston-based biotechnology company that generated global attention for the COVID-19 vaccine, conducted the experiment together with IAVI, a nonprofit scientific research organization, to determine how effective a vaccine is to determine whether a sequential administration of priming and boosting HIV immunogens delivered by messenger RNA (mRNA) can induce an immune response in patients. What it found was encouraging, according to Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of IAVI.

"We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform. The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine," said Feinberg.

The clinical trial was seen as a "proof of concept" that took place last year. What it found was that the desired immune response took place in 97% of participants and also demonstrated the successful application of Moderna's mRNA technology, which was previously used to create the company's COVID-19 vaccine.

As part of the trial, 48 of the volunteers received at least one dose of the primary vaccine, 32 of which also received a booster. Moderna’s trials are part of a wider research effort to find ways to treat or cure HIV with the help of new technologies.

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