P15-03. HIV vaccine funding trends entering a global recession: research and development (R&D) from 2000 – 2008

Background

The Alliance for Microbicide Development, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and UNAIDS have since 2004 employed their jointly-developed, comprehensive methodology to estimate financial investments and trends related to HIV vaccine research, development and advocacy and levels of political commitment.

Methods

Investment data were collected on product development, clinical trials and trial preparation, community education, and policy advocacy efforts, to estimate 2008 funding for preventive HIV vaccine R&D.

Results

This presentation will provide estimates of total 2008 funding levels by public, commercial and philanthropic sectors, an overview of trends from 2000–2008, and additional information on how funds for HIV vaccine R&D were spent in 2008. A key highlight is that in 2008, despite the beginnings of a global recession, the HIV vaccine research public and philanthropic sector funding was similar to 2007. In contrast, commercial investment in HIV vaccines in 2008 declined significantly as compared to the previous year.

Conclusion

Data on 2008 investment indicate that the onset of the current global financial climate has had a limited impact on funding for HIV vaccines. The full effect of the recession is not likely to be seen until 2009 or beyond due to funding cycles, but public sector and philanthropic funding remained stable despite the economic climate and the disappointing results from the Step and Phambili trials. Reductions in commercial investment occurred reflecting completion of the Step trial and contractions in the pharmaceutical/biotech sector generally. Key issues such as the quality, sustainability and predictability of funding can also impact HIV vaccine R&D. Substantial investments are still needed to strengthen basic research into immunology, explore new HIV vaccine designs, bring novel HIV vaccine candidates into the pipeline and fund clinical trials to test the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of new products.