AIDS Vaccine Panel Discussion [Minutes]

7-APR-97 PACHA AIDS VACCINE PANEL DIscussION - p. 42

I'm disappointed in the recommendation for the higher-level public-private
vaccine consortium. In an earlier draft of the recommendations, the term "consortium"
was there. It seems to have disappeared from the next draft. But actually what is
recommended is another high-level committee with representatives from all possible
agencies and all possible sectors. I enthusiastically endorse bringing the power of the
office of the Vice President to bear on the problem, but I see the formation of another
large, high-level committee as a futile exercise. Committees cannot develop vaccines.
The country needs an operational entity with effective leadership, strong management,
sufficient financial resources, and a commitment to succeed.
In the past, I've been a proponent for the formation of an industry-led and -
managed consortium, supported in part by government resources, to mount a vigorous
and broad-based vaccine development effort. I would hope the Vice President could
take the lead and work with senior leaders in the vaccine industry and in government to
find the right formula for such an entity. Some very good suggestions have been made,
and some have been discussed earlier this morning. With government leadership at the
highest level, it should be possible to explore with industrial leaders options for an
effective national program.
I do not believe, however, that another big committee, as described in the
recommendation, will get the job done, nor do I believe that appointment of another
high-level official in the system will do more than add complexity to the already
complex government effort.
In closing, I want to emphasize my belief that an effective vaccine can be
developed and that a vaccine offers the only reasonable hope for controlling the global
epidemic of AIDS.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate.
DR. LEVINE: Thank you so much. Okay. We'll now come full circle and go to our first and
last speaker, Dr. Baltimore. Dr. Baltimore is currently the Cottrell Professor of
Molecular Biology and Immunology at MIT. He is the former president of Rockefeller
University. He discovered the gene and enzyme for reverse transcriptase, for which he
won a Nobel Prize. Dr. Baltimore is highly regarded in the world for his scientific
expertise and, in part as a reflection of that, was recently designated by the NIH to lead
a revitalized effort for AIDS vaccines, functioning as chair of the new NIH AIDS
Vaccine Research Committee Dr. Baltimore, thank you for being here.
DR. BALTIMORE: Thank you. Let me apologize for my late arrival. Let me also say it's a
great pleasure both to be here and to meet with this Council, about which I've heard so
much and never actually seen face to face. I also want to say that I appreciate watching
the changing form of the recommendations as they come out of the fax machine.