The public sector's unique role in HIV vaccine research.
Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:216 (abstract no. Th.A.283) Killen JY, Fast P, Hoff R, McNamara J, Schultz A; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIAID), National Institutes (NIH), Rockville, MD, USA. E-mail: jk31e@nih.gov.
The identification of a safe and effective vaccine is of the highest priority to worldwide efforts to control the HIV epidemic. The ideal HIV vaccine will be free of serious side effects, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to store and administer anywhere in the world. It will provide protection which is effective against chronic infection and/or disease caused by all virus subtypes, and which is sustainable throughout the period of potential exposure. In spite of innumerable scientific, logistical, and social obstacles this goal can be achieved, but will require unprecedented collaboration between the public and private sectors, between researchers and affected communities, and across international borders. The NIAID has formulated a strategic plan to facilitate efficient discovery and development of a useful HIV vaccine in the face of these complex challenges. That plan contains four elements: 1) maintain a program of scientific inquiry that integrates fundamental research and empiric development to advance a broad front of critical knowledge and a variety of vaccine designs through laboratory, animal, and human research; 2) develop more and better-defined partnerships with industry sponsors of vaccine development; 3) identify scientific opportunities that will accelerate HIV vaccine research and development and determine resource requirements to fully exploit them; 4) strengthen linkages with communities and other public or private organisations working in the field. Several important aspects of this plan will be discussed, with particular emphasis on the special role which the public sector must play in vaccine development, given the scientific and economic forces which work against an otherwise optimal level of private sector activity in this area.
Keywords: AEGIS, AIDS Vaccines, Public Sector, Private Sector, HIV, HIV Infections, Sezary Syndrome, Sjogren's Syndrome, HIV Antibodies, Research, HIV Seropositivity, Research Design, Human, ICA11
