SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has taken the world by surprise, just as HIV did in the 1980’s. However, unlike HIV, the world has come together and shown that a coordinated, global response to a pandemic is possible in record time. Many aspects of this response, including the search for a vaccine, have built upon technologies and lessons learned from recent epidemics, including HIV.
Every year, World Immunization Week is celebrated during the last week of April with the aim of promoting the use of vaccines to protect people against infectious diseases. Although much progress has been made to develop vaccines, an HIV vaccine remains elusive. In this post we revisit one of the most promising HIV prevention vaccine studies that was prematurely halted due to lack of efficacy and highlight its critical role in informing HIV vaccine development.
The Enterprise is relaunching the “Bench to Clinic” web tool in the context of ongoing efficacy trials, a rich pipeline of new products and new approaches to the design and development of HIV vaccines. The tools provides an overview of the necessary steps in the process and estimates of corresponding timelines and budgets. It also drew attention to some potential challenges and provided links to relevant resources.
This scientific and technical workshop aims to continue from the first HIV Prevention Efficacy Trial Designs of the Future symposium, held in November 2018 in Seattle by the Fred Hutch and the NIAID. Participants will reflect on more recent advances and challenges within the HIV prevention field and on the rationale and lessons learned for current HIV prevention designs.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise encourages HIV vaccine researches to submit abstracts online from 3 February to 23 April through the HIVR4P website. Late breaker abstracts will be accepted from 23 July – 5 August. Abstracts about HIV vaccine research and development can be submitted across a range of categories from basic science to product implementation.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (the Enterprise), hosted by the International AIDS Society (IAS), shares the deep disappointment that the Phase 2b/3 HIV vaccine study HVTN 702 has been stopped by the trial sponsor, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The decision to halt the trial, conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), follows the recommendation of the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). Although the regimen did not prevent HIV infections, the DSMB did not express any concerns about safety.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (the Enterprise) meeting in Ghent, Belgium, provided an opportunity to engage as a region on critical issues, including political and research commitments in Europe, with the aim of ensuring that HIV vaccine R&D remains a key priority in a challenging and changing global health landscape.
In this viewpoint published in The Lancet, key stakeholders look into the challenges of developing an HIV vaccine from development to marketing.
The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise is looking forward to the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2019) taking place on 2-7th December 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda.
ICASA represents the largest AIDS conference in Africa with over 10 000 delegates expected. The conference theme for 2019 is “AIDS free Africa – Innovation, Community and Political Leadership”. This is a tremendous opportunity for the international community to join efforts in committing to achieving an AIDS-free Africa.
