IAVI

We'll be on-site at Europe’s largest vaccine conference next week to discuss end-to-end vaccine development and progress in the field. This convening is especially timely given current events in global health – including the recent #mpox and #Marburg outbreaks. IAVI will be well-represented by three amazing leaders: ▪ Marion Gruber, Ph.D., M.S., vice president, public health and regulatory science ▪ Swati Gupta, DrPH, MPH, vice president and head of EIDs and epidemiology ▪ Marlene Espinoza, Ph.D., director and product development lead, EIDs Among other sessions, Gruber will deliver a must-see talk on IAVI’s Lassa vaccine development. Gupta will chair the Emerging & Infectious Diseases track and Espinoza will chair the COVID & Beyond track. 💡 For more on IAVI's involvement: https://lnkd.in/dihzMpSD See you at The World Vaccine Congress in Barcelona! #WVCEU

IAVI is encouraged to hear that the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act was introduced in the United States Senate by Senator Cory Booker. This act aims to empower USAID to boost its R&D capabilities for health care technologies in LMICs, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the United States' commitment to global health innovation. We look forward to more good news about the SIGHT Act!

On Oct. 10, #HIVR4P2024 concluded in Lima, Peru, with a clear call to action. While HIV prevention research has taken a large leap forward with the development of long-acting prevention options like lenacapavir, the need for an HIV vaccine remains. Organized by International AIDS Society, HIVR4P is the only global scientific conference focused exclusively on the field of HIV prevention research. With over 1,300 participants in attendance, IAVI leaders enjoyed the opportunity to showcase our work and learn from peers across disciplines and continents. We discussed HIV vaccine and antibody research, community engagement, and socio-behavioral research throughout five packed days of satellite sessions, symposia, oral abstracts, and poster exhibitions. Read our new article for session snapshots and key takeaways from this year’s HIVR4P ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ezVVV4xh

After three days of inspiring discussions and presentations, the 7th Global Forum on TB Vaccines in Rio de Janeiro was officially closed by Fernanda Dockhorn, Michel Kazatchkine, Ole Olesen, and Ditiu Lucica (by video). They welcomed the advanced late-stage vaccines and emphasised the importance of filling the vaccine pipeline with new approaches and innovations. This can only be achieved through global collaboration and inclusiveness both geographically and in terms of conducting high-quality research and clinical trials, involving the affected community at all stages from research to implementation. Throughout the centuries, TB has claimed countless victims, and it continues to do so to this day. It is time to stop TB with the help of vaccines. Only by joining forces worldwide we can win the fight against TB. #GlobalForumTBVax #7GFTBV

IAVI congratulates Dr. David Baker at the Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, on winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering computational techniques to predict protein structures. This innovation has led to the design of new medical therapies including antiviral proteins. IPD, using their state-of-the art computational methods, has designed de novo hyperstable mini-proteins for the prevention and treatment of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) including COVID-19 (https://lnkd.in/d3fjzwH); (https://lnkd.in/eY72c6bG). Mini-protein binders could potentially be used during unpredictable EID outbreaks to address delays in vaccine availability in low- and middle-income countries. #proteindesign #pandemicpreparedness #antiviral #nobelprize

On this International Day of the Girl Child, we celebrate the transformative power of girls in advocating for justice and equality. This year’s theme, "Girls’ vision for the future," highlights the importance of empowering young women in all areas, as many still face discrimination and violence that threaten their well-being and empowerment. Leaders like Catherine Menganyi, Chapter Lead and Founder of WGH Kenya, are paving the way for girls and women by dedicating their efforts to ending Gender-Based Violence, including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). Follow Catherine and WGH Kenya for inspiring stories and updates: ➡️https://bit.ly/4eBJOyW ➡️https://lnkd.in/e6fQPe6v #DayOfTheGirl #GirlsVision #GenderEquity #WGHKenya

The final day of #HIVR4P2024 ended on a roaring note as conference co-chair Linda-Gail Bekker exhorted attendees to not be deterred by the challenges facing the field but to focus on the promising science and community engagement featured over the past few days and to “go off and prevent!” The audience was also energized by several activists who urged researchers to remember the LGBTQIA+ and indigenous communities they serve by centering inclusive funding, policymaking, and accessibility in all studies. The day offered sessions on novel approaches to HIV vaccines and immunotherapies, as well as discussions on the critical role of community engaged science in driving HIV prevention research and access to interventions such as PrEP. IAVI Africa’s Vincent Muturi Kioi, HIV vaccine product development team lead, described the need, given the continuing burden of the HIV pandemic, to accelerate preclinical and clinical studies to enable iteration and development of a vaccination regimen. His talk, entitled “mRNA Technology for HIV Vaccines: Hopes and Challenges,” described IAVI and partners’ germline-targeting vaccine strategy and its use of Moderna’s mRNA platform. This strategy requires multiple immunogens to target multiple antibody lineages, and so reducing time from immunogen identification to clinic will be critical, as will reducing production costs. Using mRNA provides several advantages on both counts. IAVI India’s Kashma Goyal spoke on “Science simplified – co-creating games with key communities to communicate HIV germline targeting vaccine design concepts in India and South Africa.” This intervention aims to demystify germline-targeting given the promise of this HIV vaccine development strategy. Liberty Sam-Urom, a member of a community working group convened by IAVI to accelerate bnAb research, and IAVI’s Katerina Chapman also presented “Lessons learned from engaging community stakeholders in product development for a proposed novel HIV intervention in early-phase clinical development.” In their talk, both emphasized the necessity of linking early community engagement activities with the product development pathway. Sharon Lewin of The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity gave the final plenary talk on promising synergies between HIV remission (ART-free viral control) and prevention research. Urging researchers to work across disciplines, she said, “We need a vaccine, and we need a cure, and we can’t be deterred by the complexity of both challenges.”

It’s the third and final day of the 7th #GlobalForumTBVaccines, and what a week it's been. We're proud to have had IAVI experts contribute to sessions across the program, sharing reflections and insights on innovation across the field, from novel approaches to clinical trials, to the need for greater and more sustained coordination and financing to deliver on the promise of the TB vaccine pipeline. Today, IAVI colleagues are contributing to a number of sessions. Check them out below: 🗣️ Oral Abstract 4: Impact, implementation, policy – Jessy Joseph, Senior Manager, Global Access Research 💬 Discussion session 2: From political commitment to action to deliver new TB vaccines this decade – Shaun Palmer, Communications & Advocacy Specialist (co-chair) 📢 Plenary 6: Enabling TB vaccine development through funding, political will, open science, and engaged communities – Shaun Palmer 📅 Learn more at https://lnkd.in/eQV9D5ec

“There’s so much hope for collaboration,” said IAVI India’s Tanvi Khera on day 4 of #HIVR4P2024. We started the day with a plenary session entitled “Back to the Future.” Eunice Nduati, Ph.D., KEMRI - Wellcome Trust, traced the history of HIV vaccine development and gave an overview of current vaccine strategies to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in her talk “Discovering an HIV Vaccine: The Quest Continues.” Nduati focused on IAVI’s germline targeting strategy to elicit bnAbs and described research to date on a VRC-01 class immunogen developed by Bill Schief at IAVI and Scripps Research. In clinical trials IAVI G001, G002, and G003, eOD-GT8 stimulated VRC-01 class germline B cells to begin maturation in most subjects, whether delivered as protein or via mRNA. That this was seen in U.S. and African populations is a hopeful sign that we may be able to elicit the targeted response despite environmental and genetic differences between these populations. The IAVI G002/G003 results will be published this year. Nduati noted that follow-on discovery medicine trials are planned, and these will hold a critical role for African scientists – as did IAVI G003. There’s a special need to ensure that African scientists are conducting the complex endpoint analyses necessary in these types of trials. At the final poster exhibition of the conference, three posters were presented by IAVI staff: ◾ “The unmet challenges in the development of indigenous HIV- 1 immunogens in LMICs: Bridging the gap between research and tangible solutions” – Tanvi Khera explored South-South collaboration between India and Africa, focusing on knowledge sharing and capacity strengthening. ◾ “Contemporary HIV-1 subtype C from India shows resistance to env V1/V2 loop directed broadly neutralizing antibodies” – Ranajoy Mullick emphasized that viral surveillance is crucial and how combinations of antibodies must be selected with attention to regional variation in viruses. ◾ “Shaping Tomorrow: Exploring Perceptions on AGYW Involvement in HIV Vaccine and bnAb Trials in the Multisite Adolescent Girls and Young Women (MAGY) Study” – Yvonne Wangũi Machira presented results from the MAGY study, highlighting the need for comprehensive education and sensitization around the research process when recruiting adolescent girls and young women for clinical trials in study countries. (The Aurum Institute, #CFHRZ, UVRI-IAVI HIV VACCINE PROGRAM) International AIDS Society

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