Vaccines in Vivo: Advances in AIDS Vaccine Research

On May 18, advocates around the world observed HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD)—an annual commemoration of the need for and commitment to the ongoing search for a vaccine. AVAC convened a webinar—Vaccines in Vivo: Advances in AIDS Vaccine Research—and updated a number of materials, including our “HVAD Toolkit” for those interested in easy-to-digest research updates.

This year brought the launch of long-awaited initiation of clinical trials building on positive results from the RV144 “Thai” trial. This effort is led by the Pox-Protein Public-Private Partnership (P5), including the the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, who joined the webinar to provide a status update of their current vaccine research and development program. We also featured Janssen, part of Johnson & Johnson, to provide an overview of the research program they are moving forward that focuses on a cross-clade vaccine product.

In this webinar we discussed:

• When and where the P5 trials are taking place?
• What questions will be asked in the P5 “licensure track” trials—designed to bring a product to market, and what will the “research” track address? [Click here for AVAC’s explanation of the dual tracks.]
• The pipeline beyond the P5 trials—including the candidate Janssen is developing
• The role for advocates in southern Africa and around the world in terms of keeping AIDS vaccine research on track