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April 25, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS 

"In Hot Pursuit of HIV Vaccine"

Puget Sound Business Journal (seattle.bcentral.com) (03/28/03); Dietrich, Heidi

Despite recent setbacks in the drive to develop a vaccine against HIV and AIDS, Seattle scientists and venture capitalists are moving forward undaunted.  VaxGen of Brisbane, Calif., which has been helped by Seattle investors like Vulcan Ventures, created and tested an HIV vaccine that performed poorly in Phase III clinical trials, but Dr. Helene Gayle, director of HIV, TB, and reproductive health for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said that "it's encouraging that a trial of that magnitude should take place, and we can learn a lot from the first Phase III trial." Indeed, groups like the Gates Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are engaging in international efforts to develop a vaccine through coordination efforts and funding scientists in other regions, while other area organizations like the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute are benefiting from National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for preclinical testing of vaccine candidates.  The wealth of interest in HIV projects has helped to draw further participation to the Seattle area, such as the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, established in 1999 by NIH but headquartered at the Hutchinson center.  The network provides links between groups that have funding, participants, and experimental products so that a solution may be found that much faster to the benefit of all involved--as well as for the general public.

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