Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
 |
Los Angeles Times - July 20, 2006
Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer
The main goal of the 16 grants is to shift the development process from independent efforts in separate laboratories to large-scale collaborative efforts involving many labs and countries.
"Traditional ways of making vaccines, which have worked well against other diseases, have largely failed for HIV," said Dr. Giuseppe Pantaleo of the Vaudois University Hospital Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, one of the grantees. "Success will require bold new scientific approaches."
Eleven of the grants, totaling $195 million, are for multinational projects to improve the ability of potential vaccines to stimulate the two kinds of immunity: The first would elicit antibodies that attack HIV; the second would stimulate a cellular response that destroys infected cells before viruses reproduce.
Pantaleo and others, for example, will try to modify existing vaccine candidates based on poxviruses so that they provoke a stronger immune response.
"A vaccine that would provide as much as 60% efficacy would make a huge impact on the HIV epidemic," said Dr. M. Juliana McElrath of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, another grantee.
Nearly 100 AIDS vaccine candidates are now in trials around the world, but experts say none is likely to provide significant protection against the virus.
The other five grants, totaling $92 million, are for establishing central laboratories to enhance collaboration among the researchers.
Three laboratory networks ù at Duke University, the National Institutes of Health and the University of Washington ù will measure immune responses provoked by vaccine candidates, allowing for the first time a direct comparison among the approaches. A fourth laboratory will provide a repository in Germany for research specimens, and the fifth at the Hutchinson site will serve as a data and statistical management center for the networks.
Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, welcomed the Gates funds, but said much more money was needed.
His group reported that $682 million was spent worldwide on AIDS vaccine research in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available. The group estimates about $1 billion per year is needed.
The Gates Foundation has now donated more than $6 billion to global health, including $1.5 billion for the development of vaccines for malaria and other diseases.
Last month, financier Warren E. Buffett announced he would donate an estimated $31 billion to the Gates Foundation, bringing its total endowment to more than $60 billion.
060720
LT060711
Copyright © 2006 - Los Angeles Times. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Los Angeles Times, Permissions, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. http://www.latimes.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .