Scientists have created a promising vaccine that would tackle the HIV virus by blocking the entrance of the virus into human cells.

The vaccine is based on Gp41, one of the "envelope proteins" of the HIV virus. The protein is directly responsible for the fusion of the virus into healthy cells. By integrating the protein into the vaccine, researchers hope to trigger the production of antibodies that would block the entrance of HIV into human cells.

"We have used an innovative approach, combining protein engineering, specific vaccine formulation and a combination of routes of administration, [nasal] and intramuscular," Nicolas Mouz, chief scientific officer at PX Therapeutics, one of the project partners, said in a statement.

The company is also providing services, in protein engineering research and manufacturing and it is located in Grenoble, France.

Since the discovery of the virus in the early 1980s, there have been many vaccines created in hopes of curing those with the virus and create a preventative therapy to stop the contagion.

"This gp41 protein from the virus envelope is not an absolute novelty in the long history of anti HIV vaccine development," Alexandru Rafila, Chairman of the Romanian Society for Microbiology in Bucharest, said in a statement. "But it is a meaningful approach in protein design that could be given as a vaccine so that it triggers an immune response."

One of the main challenges in vaccine development for the virus is its enormous capacity to mutate. The the virus targets not only the lymphocyte cells, which include T cells-a key component of the body's immune system helping to fight diseases, but also other immune system cells.

"The idea basically is that a vaccine should induce antibodies T cells immune response, that would neutralize HIV in all of its forms," Ulrich Fruth, vaccine development and evaluation team leader at the World Health Organization, said in a statement.

Fruth adds that a minor limitation of this vaccine is that it focuses on the induction of antibodies.

"We think that for a successful protection we may need [to target] both: antibodies and T cells," Fruth said. "The role that I would see for such a vaccine would probably be in combination with the components that induce T cell immune response. So, [what may proved useful is to test] a combination vaccine [and] not a standalone one."