How we find and screen new research
New HSV vaccine trials and papers appear every week. This page explains how we find them, how we decide what belongs on the site, and how each summary is checked before a person approves it. It also shows what our screening has found so far, and lets you download the data behind the tracker.
The process
- Find. Software checks ClinicalTrials.gov every day for changes to the trials we track and for new HSV vaccine trials, and searches the biomedical literature (Europe PMC, which includes PubMed and the major preprint servers) for new HSV vaccine papers.
- Screen. Clear noise is removed by fixed rules (for example, animal herpesviruses). An AI screening step then sorts the rest: is it about an HSV vaccine, and which candidate does it concern? Every record that is set aside gets a recorded reason, shown below.
- Draft and check. For relevant papers, an AI step drafts a neutral summary in which every statement is tied to a passage from the source. Software confirms each passage appears word for word, and that every number we state appears in one of them. A separate AI check, run on its own, then tries to find errors.
- Approve. The editor reads each draft with its sources and both checks, and approves, edits or rejects it. Nothing is published automatically, and changes to a candidate's status are always made by hand from a registry, journal or official source.
This is an editorial process, not peer review. See our methodology for the rules it follows.
Screening log
Since screening began, it has identified 55 records: 42 set aside as out of scope, 5 in screening or review, and 8 published. Log updated Sep 28, 2026.
| Why a record was set aside | Records |
|---|---|
| Mentions HSV or vaccines but is not about an HSV vaccine | 16 |
| About a different human herpesvirus, not an HSV vaccine | 12 |
| HSV used as a vector/oncolytic agent, not an HSV vaccine | 7 |
| HSV treatment or research that is not a vaccine (antivirals, antibodies, gene editing, latency) | 4 |
| About an animal herpesvirus or veterinary vaccine | 2 |
| Same work as an item already in the ledger | 1 |
Evidence map
What kinds of evidence we currently list for each candidate. A count is the number of research entries on this site of that type; it is not a measure of quality or promise, and an empty cell means we list nothing of that kind yet, not that none exists.
| Candidate | Lab / animal | Phase 1–1/2 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Registered trials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCHT HSV-2 mRNA vaccine | — | — | — | — | phase 1 |
| BNT163 | 1 | 1 | — | — | phase 1 |
| G103 | — | — | — | — | phase 1 |
| GEN-003 | — | — | — | — | phase 1/2, phase 2, phase 2, phase 2, phase 2 |
| GSK4108771A | — | — | — | — | phase 1 |
| Herpevac (gD2 subunit, GSK) | — | — | — | — | phase 3 |
| HerpV | — | — | — | — | phase 2 |
| HSV529 | — | — | — | — | phase 1, phase 1, phase 1 |
| mRNA-1608 | — | 1 | — | — | phase 1/2 |
| pPJV7630 | — | — | — | — | phase 1, phase 1 |
| Trivalent gC2/gD2/gE2 mRNA (UPenn) | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
| VCL-HB01 | — | — | — | — | phase 1/2, phase 2 |
Open data
The tracker's data, generated from the same records as the pages, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to HerpesVaccinations.com. Editorial status is our sourced reading of the evidence; registry facts carry their own date. Not medical advice.
- Candidates (JSON) — Every tracked HSV vaccine candidate with editorial phase, status, trial ids and sources.
- Candidates (CSV) — The candidate tracker as a spreadsheet.
- Research entries (JSON) — Research entries with publication status, study type and our summary.
- Research entries (CSV) — Research entries as a spreadsheet.
- Registry snapshot (JSON) — Verbatim ClinicalTrials.gov facts for tracked trials, with the date they were fetched.
- Screening log (JSON) — Every record our screening identified and what happened to it — identifiers and reason codes only.