AIDS Vaccine Panel Discussion [Minutes]

7-APR-97 PACHA AIDS VACCINE PANEL DIscussIoN - p. 43

(Laughter.)
DR. BALTIMORE: And I can see the evolution of your thinking in that, and I particularly,
of course, appreciate your acknowledgement of my role. As you know, for the last 3
months or so I've been chairman of the AIDS Vaccine Research Committee. This
committee is responsible to Drs. Varmus, Paul, Fauci, and Klausner, and all four of
them attended our first session. It, therefore, serves as a coordinating and advisory
body for the overall NIH vaccine effort.
The committee was constituted in January and has met once, in March. Its
major actions have been to identify opportunities that can move vaccine development
forward, and to arrange that these research directions get increased attention.
Our primary vehicle has been a newly created grant program that is particularly
fast and simple. It will provide funds for targeted areas of research, particularly ones
where scientists who have not previously been involved in AIDS research can
contribute. I might say that it particularly has the opportunity for small business
involvement through SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research] grants.
The three areas we have targeted are animal models, envelope protein structure
as it relates to immunogenicity, and optimizing antigen presentation for the
development of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. In the future, we plan to identify new areas
of promise and catalyze their more rapid development. We are particularly intrigued by
DNA vaccination and by the use of live attenuated HIV vaccines.
Let me put our activities in a framework. There is now a very active program
of vaccine testing in humans focused on a prime/boost strategy, and I know you've
been through a lot of this, and I apologize for not having heard it. It is important that
this be carried forward, and that as much scientific knowledge as possible be gleaned
from the effort.
If the strategy proves efficacious, we will, of course, be very excited. However,
it may not, in which case we need to learn from it about new directions to pursue.
These could either be improvements of one or another components or entirely new
directions. Our committee sees one of its major tasks as assuring that new
opportunities for clinical testing are being generated.
While we recognize that vaccines must be made by industry, we hear from
industry -- and this was just related -- that their greatest need is basic knowledge and
new vaccine concepts. We plan to make sure that America has as broad and as deep a
program as possible so that the full range of opportunities can be investigated. This
means study of viral pathogenesis, study of viral structure and function, examination of
modes of immune response, and evaluation of modes of eliciting immunity, such as