Many researchers working on the development of AIDS vaccines are today convinced that there’s a need for new ideas and strategies in the field. To address this need and expedite AIDS vaccine discovery and development, IAVI’s Innovation Fund seeks out emerging technologies and provides financial support to advance them.
The Fund seeks to:
- Encourage cross-pollination of ideas and technologies between scientific sub-disciplines
- Infuse creativity into the search for a safe and effective AIDS vaccine
The fund surveys the commercial biotech universe and identifies small to mid-sized companies that have developed innovative technologies that might prove valuable to AIDS vaccine discovery and development.
It helps finance the application of innovations to particularly challenging problems of AIDS vaccine discovery and development. For example, a company that has developed a technology to accelerate the screening of candidate drugs might be invited to apply its platform technology to the search for vaccines against HIV; one that has developed a means to reduce immune responses to therapeutic proteins may be challenged to apply its technology in reverse to increase immune responses to HIV antigens.
We have launched the Innovation Fund with a three-year commitment of US $10 million—half of it provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Fund has thus far awarded six grants to organizations around the world.
Its areas of focus in 2008 included:
- The design of immunogens for improved cell-mediated immune responses to HIV
- The design of immunogens that elicit neutralizing antibodies
- Assay development and technologies for accelerating the rate at which AIDS vaccine candidates are screened
- Any other technologies that might have a significant impact on the pipeline of candidate AIDS vaccines
HOW THE FUND WORKS
The Innovation Fund proactively seeks out and supports potentially breakthrough technologies in a handful of areas of biotechnology. The Fund has a risk tolerance commensurate with the urgency of the need to end the AIDS pandemic. Still, projects considered for funding must have the demonstrable potential to advance AIDS vaccine research.
To encourage unconventional thinking, we place priority on technologies that are not currently funded and would not ordinarily be eligible for funding through typical channels of support for AIDS vaccine research and development.
We take steps to encourage innovators to tap the Fund. Applications for support, for example, require little paperwork, and proposals are evaluated and funded promptly. Further, financial support from the Fund is non-dilutive.
In addition to the funding, award-winners gain access to:
- Key reagents and infrastructure that support the refinement and application of their technology to AIDS vaccine development
- Access to the significant technical and scientific expertise of the staff in IAVI’s vaccine discovery and development programs
- The opportunity for further funding and product development for those technologies that prove promising
APPLYING TO THE FUND
The Innovation Fund’s sole purpose is to seed breakthroughs in AIDS vaccine R&D by recruiting some of the most creative scientists and companies around the world into the AIDS vaccine effort. Our grants help to lift some of the financial risk associated with refining cutting-edge ideas and technologies, and give innovators an opportunity to test their technology in a scientifically challenging arena.
To that end, the Fund awards grants to assess the applicability of novel technologies and innovations to AIDS vaccine development. Grants are awarded for milestone-based proof-of-concept studies that can be completed within 12 to 18 months. Commercial, non-profit and academic institutions are all eligible for funding from the Innovation Grant, and all are encouraged to apply.
For inquiries, please contact Innovation Fund Director Michelle Dees (mdees@iavi.org).