Toronto, August 15, 2006 -- Today at the XVI International AIDS Conference, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) proposed new scientific and policy initiatives to accelerate AIDS vaccine development, foster capacity building in developing countries, and build and sustain long-term commitment from multiple stakeholders. The initiatives are detailed in IAVI's biennial flagship publication, the AIDS Vaccine Blueprint 2006: Actions to

Strengthen Global Research and Development, which provides:

• An assessment of vaccine candidates in the pipeline;

• An overview of key scientific obstacles to the discovery and development of a preventive HIV vaccine;

• An analysis of financial and political challenges that are impeding the AIDS vaccine search;

• Bold new recommendations for overcoming these challenges.

The Blueprint calls for a new vaccine development model to move more novel candidates targeting different immune responses into the pipeline and to speed feedback on their immunogenicity. The required components are the expansion of a rational vaccine design effort to solve key scientific questions and translate answers into improved AIDS vaccine design, coordinated and prioritized scientific empiricism to test only those candidates that improve upon the best current products and accelerated clinical trials to yield faster efficacy and safety data.

"The AIDS pandemic continues to outpace our efforts at prevention and treatment, damaging societies and undermining social and economic progress in developing countries. We must find better HIV prevention technologies; A vaccine remains the best hope for ending the epidemic," said Seth Berkley, MD, CEO and founder of IAVI. "That is why it is imperative that we focus the best tools of science and establish better models for conducting AIDS vaccine research."

The Blueprint highlights the need for a dynamic global researc
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Contact: Brenda Timm
212-704-4593
Edelman Public Relations
15-Aug-2006