The University of Queensland and CSL have suspended the Phase II and Phase III clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The Australian government cancelled further trials and production of the vaccine after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis.

The Australian government cancelled further trials and production of the vaccine after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis.On December 11, 2020, Reuters reported that Australia had cancelled the production of a locally made vaccine against COVID-19 after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis. "Antibodies generated by the vaccine being developed by the University of Queensland (UQ) and biotech firm CSL, one of four candidates contracted by the Australian government, were found to lead to some false positive HIV test results," the report said.

The University of Queensland commenced a Phase 1 trial of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate – v451 – in July 2020 in healthy volunteers. CSL was expected to conduct Phase 2/3 clinical trial and large-scale manufacture of the vaccine, upon completion of successful trials.

A press release issued by the University of Queensland stated that significant changes would need to be made to well-established HIV testing procedures in the healthcare setting to accommodate the rollout of this vaccine and hence the Australian government and CSL have agreed to halt the trials.

CSL, which had a contract to produce 51 million doses of the UQ vaccine, will instead produce an extra 20 million doses of the Oxford vaccine being developed with Britain’s AstraZeneca, the report said.

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