Research & Development | Mobilizing Support |
IAVI opened its European office in 2001, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where it is registered as a foundation (Stichting IAVI) under Dutch law. The European office runs an extensive program to secure and sustain financial and political support for AIDS vaccine research and development. The program comprises advocacy, communications and resource mobilization activities in 13 countries and the European Union as a whole.
Vaccine research and development is another major focus of IAVI’s work in Europe. The Human Immunology Laboratory—which is based in London—serves as the nerve center of IAVI’s international network of research institutions running AIDS vaccine trials.
We also oversee a web of partnerships for AIDS vaccine research and development, linking together many of Europe's university labs, independent research institutes, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Europe is home to IAVI’s Human Immunology Laboratory, and to more than 20 academic and private sector research partnerships dedicated to solving critical scientific problems that hamper progress in the development of AIDS vaccines. The laboratories of this network also design novel AIDS vaccines and conduct early-stage clinical research on such candidates.
The Human Immunology Laboratory: IAVI’s Human Immunology Laboratory is based at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and affiliated with Imperial College London, in the UK. It plays a pivotal role in the HIV-related research and clinical evaluation of candidate AIDS vaccines conducted by collaborating research centers in sub-Saharan Africa and India. It also serves as IAVI’s core clinical laboratory, developing scientific assays for vaccine development and participating in a variety of clinical research projects run by IAVI and collaborating laboratories worldwide.
Vaccine Development Program: Since 2001, IAVI and its partners have launched several AIDS vaccine-related projects in Europe, covering every aspect of the process from vaccine design to the development of manufacturing technologies and the conduct of early-phase clinical trials in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. We launched in October 2007, in collaboration with the St. Stephen’s AIDS Trust, in London, a Phase I trial to assess the safety and immunogenicity of a novel vaccine. The trial will also test the usability of an improved assay for the assessment of immune responses—measurements that are vital to the evaluation of candidate vaccines.
Applied Science Program: IAVI is working closely with leading researchers in Europe to tackle critical challenges in AIDS vaccine research. Scientists from seven research institutes in Europe participate in IAVI’s program, either affiliated with the Human Immunology Laboratory, or working in one of three research consortia launched and managed by IAVI. The institutes include:
- Imperial College London, UK
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Switzerland
- Karolinska Institute, Sweden
- Medical Research Council, UK
- St. George’s, University of London, UK
- University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
- University of Oxford, UK
R&D Technologies Program
IAVI continually scans the world for novel technologies that might be applied to boost the quality and pace of AIDS vaccine development.
- Under the New Alliances Program, IAVI has signed research agreements with eight European biotechnology companies and academic institutions for access to novel technologies to address some of the most pressing scientific challenges of AIDS vaccine development, such as improving neutralizing antibody responses to candidate vaccines, optimizing methods of vaccine delivery and designing new immunogens—the active ingredients of vaccines.
- IAVI’s Innovation Fund awarded, in 2008, grants to two European companies whose technologies might be usefully—and unconventionally—applied to the development of AIDS vaccines. The British company Lipoxen will test its advanced liposome technology as a tool for designing novel HIV vaccine candidates; and the Belgian company Algonomics is applying its expertise in engineering proteins for pharmaceutical applications to optimize potential HIV immunogens.
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MOBILIZING SUPPORT
IAVI has secured funding for its efforts from eight governments in Europe, as well as the European Union. They have together contributed US$ 280 million to IAVI. These resources have been invested in all components of IAVI’s programs, including research and development, securing and sustaining global commitment, policy and advocacy initiatives and the building of technical capacity to conduct AIDS vaccine trials and HIV research in developing countries.
IAVI has also played a central role in developing a network of civil society organizations across Europe to advocate for AIDS vaccine development. Further, we reach out to elected and senior officials, civil servants, governments, civil society organizations, think tanks, industry, scientists and journalists across Europe to ensure that AIDS vaccines remain high on the political agenda and to shore up support for their development.
We work closely with a wide range of civil society organizations—including development and humanitarian organizations—to advocate for AIDS vaccines. Our partners collaborate with IAVI in other ways as well, including the development of policies supportive of the global effort to develop AIDS vaccines, HIV awareness and education, fundraising and sustaining community engagement in AIDS vaccine research.
We also partner with civic and political leaders, and people who might generally be considered "champions" of the AIDS vaccine cause, to shape policies likely to influence AIDS vaccine development, and to keep the issue front and center in global health and development forums.
Our collaboration with regional and national governments, members of parliament (MPs), the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU has garnered explicit support for AIDS vaccine development in the initiatives and documents of both individual European nations as well as the EU. Such declarations have, in turn, frequently established the framework for political and financial support for AIDS vaccine development on a national, regional and international level.