India, July 7 -- Scientists have developed an experimental HIV vaccine candidate that has shown encouraging results in preclinical studies, raising fresh hopes of preventing new HIV infections by triggering the production of rare, broadly neutralising antibodies capable of fighting the virus despite its rapid mutations, researchers said.

The vaccine, developed by scientists from the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Scripps Research and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), has the potential to protect people from developing HIV infection and AIDS. According to LJI, it is the first HIV vaccine candidate to generate a high level of broadly neutralising, virus-fighting antibodies in primates.

"This feels like a huge suc...