The real reason, and one that we will have to live with for the moment, is that most of the current HPV activity is currently being carried out by commercial entities like SmithKline Beecham, Merck, Cantab, etc. As companies, we are generally unwilling or legally unable to divulge much about our activites, especially those activities involving clinical trials. We can acknowledge the ongoing activities, but that's about it. It's an essentially completed piece of work.
Therapeutic immunization is regarded by many as an extremely difficult target.
Most of the time we're delighted if we can even approach the level of an immune response raised by natural infection. Attacking an established infection that nature has not dealt with effectively is a big challenge. This is not to say that it's impossible, but as we are still unravelling the pathophysiology of HPV disease, it may be premature to launch into therapeutic studies, especially in the face of one disappointing result for a perfectly reasonable candidate vaccine. The real reason, and one that we will have to live with for the moment, is that most of the current HPV activity is currently being carried out by commercial entities like SmithKline Beecham, Merck, Cantab, etc. As companies, we are generally unwilling or legally unable to divulge much about our activites, especially those activities involving clinical trials.