HIV Vaccines: The basics

This introductory PowerPoint slide set reviews basic concepts, and provides an overview of research status and recent developments.

Ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials

UNAIDS and the World Health Organization have published this updated guidance on ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials. The new guidance is the result of a year-long process that saw more than 80 experts and members of the public give inputs and is published 21 years after the first edition appeared.

Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Combinations

Overview of the combinations of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) under investigation in early clinical studies for HIV prevention.

Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials: Results, milestones and more

This graphic shows the updated status of large-scale prevention trials through 2022 and the impact of COVID-19 on each trial.

Another version of this graphic is available here (same content, different visual Treatment U=U).

Designing a New Generation of HIV Prevention Efficacy Trials

Designing trials to test new HIV prevention modalities remains crucial; high rates of new infections persist in communities all over the world. Even with effective tools becoming more accessible, it’s clear no single option fits every need. But those same options make the design of future trials increasingly complex. Bill Snow, AVAC co-founder and senior advisor, explores this issue in Designing a New Generation of Prevention Efficacy Trials. The report lays out basic concepts in innovations in trial design and an analysis of the implications for advocacy.

A Statement on the Future of HIV Prevention Trials

AVAC’s inaugural Trial Design Academy convened in September 2019. At that meeting, a group of around 20 HIV prevention advocates from across the globe explored technical issues related to trial designs, and engaged with researchers, statisticians and regulators to understand the decisions—which must incorporate input from advocates. As an outcome of this workshop, the group developed a statement of its viewpoints and stances on this new, complex generation of HIV prevention trials—this work was presented at AIDS 2020 Virtual: Advocates’ Perspectives on Next-Generation HIV Prevention Trial Design. Read the consensus statement.

COVID-19 Vaccine Pipeline Snapshot

A snapshot of the COVID-19 vaccine pipeline. Excerpted from Five “P”s to Watch.

Vaccines Approaches in COVID-19 Vaccine Development

HIV represents one of the most challenging viruses ever encountered. Though an HIV vaccine has yet to be licensed, vaccine science has made enormous strides as it confronts this rapidly-mutating virus. Years of painstaking work to develop vaccines for HIV are now making possible the record-breaking timelines that researchers aspire to for the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines research has generated more scientific knowledge about immune function and responses than ever existed. And key vaccine platforms are fast-tracking the development and testing of experimental vaccines for COVID-19 today.

Excerpted from Five “P”s to Watch.

The Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine

Will compressed and overlapping steps get a vaccine faster? The innovations advocated for in Vaccines development that are being employed in the COVID-19 response today include: running certain clinical trials in parallel instead of sequentially; gearing up manufacturing capacity before final study results are in and negotiating public/private commitments in advance to facilitate sustainable access to new vaccines.

Excerpted from Five “P”s to Watch.

Leveraging the Vaccines Enterprise for COVID-19 Vaccine Research

In many ways, the collaborative research movement grew up around Vaccines. Thanks in large part to HIV advocacy, out-of date research models that were competitive and closed-door are increasingly yielding to more transparent and collaborative research and development efforts—in both the HIV and COVID-19 responses.

Building on big science partnerships, data sharing and collaboration pioneered over the last 15 years of Vaccines research and development, global initiatives are marshalling the talents, experiences and resources of key stakeholders. And just as HIV laid the foundation for more effective partnerships in research, lessons from the COVID-19 experience can also inspire greater collaboration and broader involvement by a range of players in the vaccines research effort.

Excerpted from 5 “P”s to Watch.