JOHNSON & JOHNSON has ended a clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine after it failed to provide sufficient protection for young women in sub-Saharan Africa who were at high risk of acquiring HIV.

The study, called Imbokodo, had 2,600 women participants across five countries — Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the company said in a news release. The vaccine did not cause harm and was well tolerated, but only provided a 25.2 percent efficacy.

“Based on these results, the Imbokodo study will not continue,” the news release said.

Johnson & Johnson said the search for an HIV vaccine will not stop. “While we are disappointed that the vaccine candidate did not provide a sufficient level of protection against HIV infection in the Imbokodo trial, the study will give us important scientific findings in the ongoing pursuit for a vaccine to prevent HIV,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., vice chairman of the Executive Committee and chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson.

The experimental vaccine in the Imbokodo trial uses the same adenovirus platform used in J&J’s COVID-19 shot.

Study participants are being informed of the findings and will have follow-up visits with the study investigators, the company said.(SD-Agencies)