2009 AVAC Report: Piecing Together the HIV Prevention Puzzle

The 2009 AVAC Report, Piecing Together the HIV Prevention Puzzle, took inspiration from a quotation in the 2006-2008 review of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery, which states that the ultimate goal “is to develop a vaccine that prevents HIV infection or disease, anything less than that can be characterized as progress, but not success.”

The first section of the Report, “Puzzling Out Progress,” reports on the AIDS vaccine field, where there’s an energized focus on discovery, innovation, and basic science. The second section, “Puzzling Out Success,” turns to the implications of PrEP and other strategies in efficacy trials today. Throughout, it is argued that success will depend on combination approaches: on research plus implementation; on vaccines plus PrEP, should either show benefit; and on communities plus researchers working towards common goals.

2008 AVAC Report: The Search Must Continue

The 2008 AVAC Report, The Search Must Continue, provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in AIDS vaccine research. It explores the issues that have been raised in the wake of the failure of Merck’s vaccine candidate and provides context for the events and major changes of the last year in HIV prevention research.

2007 AVAC Report: Resetting the Clock

The three sections of this year’s report outline some specific deadlines and challenges in AIDS vaccine scientific strategy, clinical trials, and the broader realm of HIV prevention. These arenas mesh like watch gears, and must function just as smoothly if the field is to proceed.

2006 AVAC Report: AIDS Vaccines: The Next Frontiers

In this report, AVAC offers its first contribution to the scenario planning critical to the success of the field. The next several years bring a variety of scenarios which cannot be encountered unprepared. Instead, the AIDS vaccine field, and the field of prevention research in general, must engage in rigorous debate, dialogue and scenario planning which anticipates the issues that the next few years will bring, and ensures that the wide range of stakeholders are informed and empowered to make decisions to compete against the virus. In this report, four thought-provoking chapters are presented, each of which begins with a future scenario that considers how the world might look in five or six or ten years’ time.

Px Wire April-June 2012, Vol. 5, No. 2

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. Highlights from this issue include a newly debuted research timeline: “ARV-based Prevention for HIV Negative Adults.” The timeline charts the time-to-approval trajectory, showing efficacy trials, related confirmatory studies and dates of possible regulatory submission for a range of prevention options including oral PrEP with TDF, oral PrEP with TDF/FTC, vaginal and rectal formulations of tenofovir gel and the dapivirine-containing vaginal ring.

Px Wire January-March 2012, Vol. 5, No. 1

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. This issue identifies ten key outcomes to pursue in order to make progress in beginning to end the AIDS epidemic. This issue also covers Gilead Science’s submission to the FDA for a label change for TDF/FTC (brand name Truvada); the closure of the 1% tenofovir gel arm of the VOICE trial; new trials launched this quarter; the first meeting of Project ARM (Africa for Rectal Microbicides).

Px Wire October-December 2011, Vol. 4, No. 4

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. This issue includes updates on what will come next for the AIDS vaccine regimen that showed modest efficacy in the trial known as RV144; the recent VOICE trial modification; progress in demonstration projects, public health guidance and regulatory decision-making around PrEP in the United States; and, a table of early-phase studies of ARV-based prevention strategies for HIV-negative people.

Px Wire April-June 2011, Vol. 4, No. 2

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. Highlights in this issue include a feature on new momentum to end the AIDS epidemic in light of the new HPTN 052 results showing that early ARV treatment is highly protective against transmitting HIV to one’s sexual partner. This issue also includes an abbreviated roadmap highlighting sessions on the latest biomedical prevention updates at the upcoming 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention. As appears each quarter, this issue includes a center foldout poster with an updated comprehensive timeline of efficacy trials of new biomedical HIV prevention worldwide and a world map showing where various strategies are being tested.

Px Wire October-December 2010, Vol. 3, No. 4

Px Wire is AVAC’s quarterly update covering the latest in the field of biomedical HIV prevention research, implementation and advocacy. Highlights in this issue include an update of the ongoing discussions around the follow-up of the CAPRISA 004 trial finding that 1% tenofovir gel reduces a women’s risk of acquiring HIV by 39 percent overall and asks follow-up questions. What additional trials are being considered and why? Who will map the next steps? This issue also touches on the increasing discussions of “treatment as prevention” in reference to the possible use of antiretroviral treatment to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.

Comment Letter to Ambassador Goosby on Draft PEPFAR Country Operational Plan for Zimbabwe

A 4-page response letter developed by a coalition of civil society groups summarizing concerns and demands related to the US PEPFAR program’s 2012 Country Operating Plan. A country operating plan dictates the scope, funding levels and targets of PEPFAR programming on an annual basis.