Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian Online - April 16, 2008
Collaboration: Two global research organisations dedicated to designing a vaccine against HIV -- the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Centre for HIV/Aids Vaccine Immunology (Chavi) -- have signed an agreement to work together to address major biological questions that have slowed development of a safe, effective and affordable Aids vaccine.
"Solving the HIV vaccine puzzle is a scientific challenge that can be solved only through fundamental and applied research, collaboration and transparency," says Dr Barton Haynes, Chavi director and professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Centre
"The work that will be done by IAVI, Chavi and their networks of partners will rapidly enhance our understanding of HIV and help lay the groundwork for new vaccine approaches."
There are about 33-million people around the world living with HIV, the virus that causes Aids. Scientists have tested multiple vaccine candidates in early phase trials, but only two have been fully tested in efficacy trials and neither has been found effective in preventing HIV infection or lowering the viral load in patients who subsequently encountered HIV and became infected.
"We are committed to the discovery of an effective vaccine, particularly for regions hardest hit by the epidemic," says Dr Wayne Koff, senior vice-president of research and development at IAVI.
"We are hoping that the synergy of shared investigation will yield insight into novel solutions that will advance Aids vaccine discovery."
Investigators supported by both organisations are especially interested in further understanding what happens in the very earliest post-infection stage of HIV infection, especially within the body's T cells, a class of white blood cells that normally fight off foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses.
One of the goals of this work will be to identify any genetic variations linked to the strength of the immune response at the site of initial infection.
Chavi and IAVI hope that by sharing samples, reagents, databases and laboratories and by launching parallel studies, they will be able to speed up discoveries about this critical phase of the disease.
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