Gates foundation creates $287M HIV vaccine research network

The Seattle, USA-headquartered Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced 16 grants totaling $287.0 million for the creation of a global network of research facilities dedicated to the acceleration of HIV/AIDS vaccine development.

More than 165 researchers in 19 countries will form a major collaboration in an attempt to overcome perceived failings of existing efforts. The name of the project is the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery. Jose Esparza, the Gates Foundation's senior advisor on HIV vaccines, said: "an HIV vaccine is our best long-term hope of controlling the global AIDS epidemic, but it has proven to be a tremendously difficult scientific challenge."

Most research in this field is carried out by relatively small teams working independently. The Gates Foundation's approach is based on the theory that the absence of collaboration and large-scale facilities has meant that promising leads have not been energetically pursued and the pace of discovery has been slow.