IAVI Report - December 2000 / January 2001
 

Davos – In a challenge to the world to move faster in developing an AIDS vaccine, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced an unprecedented US$ 100 million in support of IAVI's $550 million funding target, bringing the amount of secured commitments to $230 million – over 40% of the total. The pledge is intended to spur mobilization of additional global support towards reaching this funding goal.

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gates said that the gift is intended to correct "an unbelievable market failure" in developing an AIDS vaccine. "With most infected people living in the world's poor nations," he said, "there's no way commercial companies are going to see this as a priority." Seth Berkley, IAVI president and CEO, added that the funds will help IAVI "create a broad-based global movement in which the public and private sectors come together to overcome the scientific, political and economic challenges to developing an AIDS vaccine. That's why we welcome the Foundation's challenge to encourage others, large and small, to join this campaign."

Berkley also announced that Yahoo! Inc., the Internet commerce, communications and media company, pledged $5 million to IAVI, becoming IAVI's first major corporate sponsor. The gift will go towards developing an integrated campaign to raise awareness and funds across the Yahoo! global network. "AIDS is a devastating global problem and we look forward to lending the power of our global network to help find a solution," said Yahoo! co-founder David Filo.

The new commitment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extends through 2006 and will help underwrite IAVI's support for eight to 12 vaccine candidates, as outlined in IAVI's "Scientific Blueprint 2000: Accelerating Global Efforts in AIDS Vaccine Development." According to Wayne Koff, who leads IAVI's research and development effort, the new funds will help cover some of the most costly aspects of the work: scaling up production of promising candidates, developing clinical trial infrastructure and vaccine cohorts and, if necessary, supporting Phase III efficacy trials. While IAVI's hope is that candidates which yield promising results in Phase I and II trials will be taken up by pharmaceutical companies for efficacy studies, the Gates gift helps provide contingency funding should such support fail to materialize for worthy vaccines.

IAVI has four ongoing Vaccine Development Partnerships (VDPs) involving African nations and is finalizing plans to work in India and in China. The first VDP has moved a vaccine into Phase I studies in the UK and Kenya. A second vaccine will enter trials in South Africa later this year.

The new commitment from the Gates Foundation is in addition to its previous $26.5 million grants to IAVI.

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