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IAVI RECEIVES GSK FUNDING FOR THE HUMAN VACCINES PROJECT TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT OF VACCINES FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND CANCER
NEW YORK,
February 13, 2015
- The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has received a grant of US$350,000 from GSK to support implementation of the Human Vaccines Project, a new public-private partnership seeking to transform global disease prevention by collaboratively addressing some of the key scientific challenges in vaccine development across diseases.
The GSK grant will help to establish the Project's global consortium and plan its research program. The funding builds on a grant last year to IAVI by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a series of workshops to explore how to accelerate development of vaccines via a Human Vaccines Project, by tackling the major scientific challenges impeding vaccine R&D through greater collaboration, increased knowledge sharing, and innovation. The first workshop, held in February 2014, focused on the scientific challenges to vaccine development, at which leading vaccine experts endorsed the Project's objectives and helped to frame its scientific plan.
Wayne C. Koff, IAVI Chief Scientific Officer and founding member of the Human Vaccines Project Board, announced the GSK grant during a symposium at the AAAS 2015 Annual Meeting in San Jose, CA.
“For all that we have achieved with vaccines, there are still far too many diseases that we can't prevent and which have a devastating impact, particularly in the developing world,” says Emmanuel Hanon, Senior Vice President, Vaccines Research and Development, GSK. “The more we can do – both individually and collectively – to overcome the current scientific challenges the better. We are very pleased to support the Human Vaccines Project and we encourage others to join us in this potentially ground-breaking initiative.”
The Project's objectives are to facilitate development of new and improved vaccines by deciphering the “Human Immunome,” all the genes and proteins associated with the human immune system, and elucidating the “Rules of Immunogenicity”, i.e., how humans generate effective immune responses with vaccines. Thus, the Project aims to address the common scientific obstacles preventing development of vaccines against major and emerging infectious diseases and cancers complementing ongoing disease-specific vaccine development efforts.
“Industry involvement will be key to the success of the Human Vaccines Project, and we are excited that GSK has become the first corporate partner of the Project. Their support will help to engage other pharmaceutical partners to join this important new initiative,” said Koff.
In July 2014, 20 business leaders from the public and private sectors reviewed the Project's mission and goals, and recommended the Project be structured as a global, nonprofit research and development (R&D) consortium closely engaged with industrial partners, and affiliated with one or more academic centers conducting vaccine R&D (Expert Review of Vaccines, in press). The Project is currently in the process of establishing the principal hubs of such a consortium, including exploration of centers in the United States, Europe and Asia, to which leadership of the Project will then transition from IAVI, its initial catalyst.
“The Human Vaccines Project is driven by the rapid pace of technological advances in genomics, bioinformatics and structural and systems biology, and likely would not have been possible even five years ago. It is a tremendously exciting time in vaccinology as we move toward preventing very challenging global killers such as AIDS, TB, malaria, Ebola, and cancers. Science and innovation will get us the vaccines we need,” said Stanley Plotkin, Emeritus Professor of the University of Pennsylvania and Chairman of the Human Vaccines Project Steering Committee.
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GSK – one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
About IAVI
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use
throughout the world. Founded in 1996 and operational in 25 countries, IAVI and its network of collaborators research and develop vaccine candidates. In July 2009, IAVI received a four-star
rating for the eighth consecutive year from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charities. In fact, nearly 90 percent of IAVI's finances go exclusively toward
ensuring the development of a safe, effective, preventive AIDS vaccine.
IAVI was founded with the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Starr Foundation, and Until There's A Cure Foundation. Other major supporters
include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, The John D. Evans Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the James B. Pendleton Charitable
Trust; the Governments of Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the Basque Autonomous Government, the European Union
as well as The City of New York, Economic Development Corporation; multilateral organizations such as The World Bank; corporate donors including BD (Becton, Dickinson & Co.), Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Continental Airlines, Google Inc., Henry Schein, Inc., Pfizer Inc, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; leading AIDS charities such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS; other private
donors such as The Haas Trusts; and many generous individuals from around the world. For more information, see www.iavi.org.
Media Contacts
U.S. and Global
Barbara Rosen
Tel: +1 212 847 1056
BRosen@iavi.org
Africa
Lillian Mutengu
Tel: +254 719 043000
LMutengu@iavi.org
Europe
Hester Kuipers
Tel: +31 20 521 0343
HKuipers@iavi.org
India
Smriti Bhagi
Tel: +91 981 124 2140
SBhagi@iavi.org
Source: IAVI International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
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