NIAID Public-Private Partnerships Seek to Develop HIV/AIDS Vaccine

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Wyeth Lederle Vaccines and Nutrition, Pearl River, NY
Wyeth Lederle's John Eldridge, Ph.D., will direct an effort with academic researchers at the
University of Pennsylvania and Duke University to produce a DNA vaccine containing immunity-stimulating
genes in addition to the HIV genes. The initial DNA vaccination will be boosted by a candidate vaccine
consisting of multiple protein fragments, or peptides, that trigger anti-HIV responses. The goal of this
approach is to produce a vaccine that strongly stimulates HIV-specific immune responses in very diverse
human populations.
The HVDDT awards are part of NIAID's expanded commitment to develop an HIV vaccine, and the
contracts complement other currently supported HIV vaccine research and development programs. The
Innovation Grant Program (IGP) supports novel, high-risk, and exploratory studies in AIDS vaccine-related
research. The HIV Vaccine Research and Design Program (HIVRAD) supports studies emphasizing targeted
AIDS vaccine research and development and is designed for vaccine concepts that have already generated
significant preliminary data. The Integrated Preclinical/Clinical AIDS Vaccine Development Program
(IPCAVD) supports grants designed to move promising HIV vaccine candidates into preliminary human
studies. IPCAVD awards are not milestone-driven, however, because they support vaccine development at
an earlier stage than the HVDDT contracts, where timelines are more difficult to predict. NIAID also
supports HIV vaccine development through its Vaccine Development Resources program, which assists
AIDS researchers by manufacturing pilot lots of vaccine for testing, conducting preliminary safety and
efficacy evaluations, and preparing submissions to the Food and Drug Administration for trials in humans.
More recently, NIAID announced the funding of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), a global network
of clinical sites, which will conduct all phases of clinical trials of candidate HIV vaccines.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID conducts and supports
research to prevent, diagnose and treat illness such as HIV disease and other sexually transmitted diseases,
tuberculosis, malaria, asthma and allergies. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
For more information on NIAID's AIDS vaccine research program, please visit
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/daids/vaccine/. Press releases, publications and other NIAID-related materials are
available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.

INO The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
is a component of the National Institutes of Health,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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