For more than 20 years, IAVI and its global network of partners have been working to ensure the development of an HIV vaccine. This work remains as important today as ever. In 2017, nearly 2 million people were infected with HIV, according to the latest data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. This stubbornly high infection rate continues, with approximately 2 million new infections occurring every year since 2005, despite tremendous progress in providing those already infected with life-saving antiretroviral treatment. Even worse, experts warn that without significant progress in reducing new HIV infections, the HIV/AIDS epidemic will likely worsen as the largest generation of young people enters the age at which they are at highest risk of infection. We need new ways to stop the spread of HIV, and chief among these is a vaccine.

Developing an HIV vaccine will require pioneering science, innovative partnerships, and a steadfast focus on the populations in which the disease burden is the highest.

IAVI’s HIV research and development programs focus on three main strategies: the design of vaccine immunogens capable of inducing highly specialized proteins known as broadly neutralizing antibodies, the optimization and development of these antibodies as prevention products, and the development of replicating viral vectors and mRNA as a way to deliver vaccine immunogens and induce persistent immune responses.

IAVI and its partners are also applying their scientific, technological, and clinical expertise in vaccine and antibody development to address other unmet global health needs.