GSK, IAVI tie up to develop AIDS vaccine |
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Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:20
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On Tuesday, UK-based pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals announced that it has tied up with International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to develop a vaccine for countering HIV and AIDS. The vaccine is being developed using a chimpanzee virus, modified in a way that it cannot infect humans but trigger off a response to HIV in their immune system.
“IAVI is one of the leaders in the AIDS vaccine field, and we are proud to be working together to develop an effective vaccine as quickly as possible,” said Jean Stéphenne, chief executive of GSK Biologicals, adding, “This partnership is a model for how the public and private sectors can work together. The private sector has an immense amount of knowledge, resources and expertise, and innovative partnerships such as this are essential to tackle the biggest global health challenges.” He said that GSK was pursuing ‘three scientific avenues to research an effective AIDS vaccine’. “This partnership will help us to accelerate the evaluation of these technologies, and can be extended in the future,” Stéphenne said.
“This is a new kind of partnership that involves real scientific collaboration to accelerate the development of an AIDS vaccine,” said Dr Seth Berkley, chief executive of IAVI.
Together, GSK Biologicals and IAVI will work to develop an important approach to an effective AIDS vaccine. We hope this will be the beginning of a long-term partnership that brings together some of the most promising technologies in the field. We cannot think of a better partner, given GSK’s long-standing commitment to addressing diseases of developing countries,” Berkley added.
However, the vaccine is still to undergo human trials and is likely to take several years to hit the market.
The announcement comes a month before the G8 summit in Scotland, scheduled for July, where leaders of various countries would meet to discuss expansion of support for research of vaccines against AIDS.
“An AIDS vaccine is essential in the fight against disease and extreme poverty in the developing world, particularly in Africa,” said Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development.
“This agreement demonstrates the kind of collaboration between the public and private sectors that is critical for enhancing the research and development of new vaccines against the world’s most devastating infectious diseases. We are proud to have been the first government to provide financial support to IAVI, and we welcome this joint venture,” she added.
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