Q: What is the basic research behind the vaccine?
A: There are two types of research that is happening in the AIDS scene. One is called behavioral science based on behavioral intervention. Another is basic science, which is two-fold: vaccine development is one of them. But a majority of research is on surveillence and constant monitoring of the AIDS victims and high-risk groups and what are the possibilities of opportunistic infection. The Central government has a definite policy: the vaccine should be only for the Indian sub-types of HIV. And Indian scientists should be involved in the construction of the vaccine.
I am personally trying to develop a live vaccine. Recently, I constructed a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus. I engineered the vaccinia virus used for small pox vaccination into a new MVA virus containing Indian HIV genes. Now, we are working on the stability of the recombinant MVA.

Q: What about animal studies?
A: There has been no animal studies on the HIV subtype C (the most prevalent strain of virus in India), because I have just constructed the MVA. This is only the first phase of my research. Only the toxicology study of the vaccine has been done on mice, before a human trial.

Q: Where did the proposal for the India-specific vaccine come from?
A: Not from any specific source. It is a global consensus, after different subtypes of HIV were found in different geographical locations.

Q: Who funds the research?
A: In India, the vaccine research is mainly funded by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Q: Are there any other HIV subtypes in India?
A: The main Indian subtype is 'C' but in Manipur we have found an entirely new subtype -"Thai B". It is different from the subtype B, which is the most prevalent strain in the US and Europe.

Q: From where do you get recruits for the trials?
A: We can't call them trials. The blood samples are collected by some NGOs which are either working with sex-workers in Kolkata like DURBAR or IVUs in Manipur.

Q: Is the Indian vaccine a pipedream?
A: I don't know when the vaccine will come. Even if it is developed, who will buy it? The cost would be enormous. There's also the question mark on its effectiveness. I hope that we can at least reduce the infection.

Q: What was the difference in pace in the development of the vaccines in other countries vius-a-vis India?
A: We lag far behind. We are conceptually on the right track but we lack infrastructure and implementation.

Q: Why doesn't India import the technology?
A: Ultimately, we have to import the technology. If my research is successful, an Indian company has to buy the technology from Therion Biologic, an US-based company which is a partner in my research.