Data presented by VaxGen Inc on March 31 2003 showing that men who have sex with men, recruited to participate the company’s phase III US trial of its candidate vaccine AidsVax between 1998 and 2003, seemed disproportionately attracted to unsafe sex.
At the start of their participation, one fifth reported knowingly having unprotected anal sex with an HIV-positive partner, with half of them reporting receptive anal sex with an HIV-positive partner. The figures point to the strong recruitment of “barebackers” into the trial, a somewhat different group to typical gay men.