STIs: A Review of the 2022 Vaccine and Diagnostic R&D Pipeline and Investments 

Takeaways

  • Six institutes and centers within the US NIH contributed the bulk of funding (US $78 million) toward STI diagnostic and vaccine R&D.
  • 59 organizations were funded worldwide to conduct STI R&D; of those, 78 percent (n=46) were located in the US.
  • Institutions in South Africa and Zambia were the only African countries where local organizations were funded to conduct STI vaccine and diagnostic research. In total, US $814,279 was provided directly to these two countries, representing less than 1 percent of total funding spent.
  • By pathogen, most funding (51 percent) was dedicated to HPV R&D, with gonorrhea and syphilis rounding out the top three pathogens funded.
  • US $50 million was spent on HPV vaccine R&D, $18 million on gonorrhea vaccine R&D, $9 million on syphilis vaccine R&D, $8 million on chlamydia vaccine R&D, $3.5 million on genital herpes vaccine R&D, and $2.8 million on Hepatitis B vaccine R&D.

This report examines disbursements by the U.S. NIH and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is one of few reports to track funding trends in vaccine and diagnostics R&D, and pipeline investments for some of the most common STIs, including chlamydia, genital herpes, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and trichomoniasis.

Topics:
Tracking and Translating the Field