A public-private partnership has been formed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) to develop an HIV vaccine.
Under the agreement, IAVI and GSK will collaborate to develop non-infectious vaccine vectors to stimulate specific immune responses which can be directed against HIV. The vectors are derived from adenoviruses, originally isolated from primates, which have been engineered to be non-infectious and capable of delivering genes expressing HIV proteins to the immune system.
Funding and technical expertise for the project will be provided by IAVI, and investigators from IAVI and GSK will form a joint research and development team.
“This is a new kind of partnership that involves real scientific collaboration to accelerate the development of an AIDS vaccine,” said Dr Seth Berkley, president and chief executive of IAVI.
Research will initially focus on developing vaccines against the subtypes of HIV most commonly found in Africa. After initial laboratory investigations, any candidate vaccine will enter Phase I clinical trials.
GSK and IAVI have committed to making any successful vaccine available to resource limited settings at an affordable price.
“We are proud to be working together [with IAVI] to develop an effective vaccine as quickly as possible,” said Jean Stephenne, president and general manager of GSK Biologicals.
The announcement comes in the build-up to the G8 summit in Scotland in July, where HIV in resource-limited settings is expected to occupy a prominent place on the agenda. The United Kingdom is the second largest donor of international HIV aid after the United States, and speaking at the announcement of the IAVI/GSK collaboration international development secretary Hilary Benn MP said, “an AIDS vaccine is essential in the fight against the disease and extreme poverty in the developing world, particularly Africa. This agreement demonstrates the kind of collaboration between public and private sectors that is critical for enhancing research and development of new vaccines against the world’s most devastating infectious diseases.” He added, “We are proud to be the first government to provide financial support to IAVI, and we welcome this joint venture.”