'This agreement demonstrates the kind of collaboration between the public and private sectors that is critical for enhancing the research and development of new vaccines against the world's most devastating infectious diseases.'

The collaboration will support early research and development on a promising new technology -- non-human primate adenovirus vaccine vector -- as an enabling component of an effective AIDS vaccine.

The technology, which grew out of research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, uses non-infectious vaccine vectors to stimulate specific immune responses directed against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

These vectors are derived from adenoviruses, originally isolated from non-human primates, which have been engineered to be non-infectious and capable of efficiently delivering genes expressing HIV proteins to the immune system.

The University owns the technology and has licensed it exclusively to GSK. IAVI will contribute technical expertise and funding, and GSK and IAVI researchers will form a joint R&D team.

Africa Focus

The IAVI-GSK research initially will focus on vaccines designed to elicit immune responses against variants of HIV that circulate predominantly in Africa, although the goal of the collaboration is to develop vaccines that would be applicable worldwide.

After pre-clinical evaluation, GSK and IAVI plan to conduct Phase I clinical trials of the vaccine candidates. The partners hope this will be the first phase of a collaboration that could be much broader. They are committed to making any successful vaccine available as quickly as possible to developing countries at affordable prices, they emphasize.

"This is a new kind of partnership that involves real scientific collaboration to accelerate the development of an AIDS vaccine," said Seth Berkley, MD, President and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

"Together, GSK Biologicals and IAVI will work to develop an important approach to an effective AIDS vaccine. We hope this will be the beginning of a long-term partnership that brings together some of the most promising technologies in the field," he addrd.

Innovative Financing Tools

"This partnership is a model for how the public and private sectors can work together. The private sector has an immense amount of knowledge, resources and expertise, and innovative partnerships such as this are essential to tackle the biggest global health challenges," said Jean Stephenne, President and General Manager of GSK Biologicals, the Rixensart, Belgium-based unit of GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

"GSK is pursuing three scientific avenues to research an effective AIDS vaccine," Stephenne added. "This partnership will help us to accelerate the evaluation of these technologies, and can be extended in the future."

Today's announcement comes in the lead-up to the G8 summit in Scotland in July, where world leaders are expected to build on previous commitments to expand support for research of vaccines against AIDS, as well as other developing-country diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria.

Innovative financing tools proposed by the UK government include both an International Finance Facility for Immunization and advance-purchase commitments to spur private investment in vaccines against diseases of the developing world.

Critical Collaboration

"An AIDS vaccine is essential in the fight against disease and extreme poverty in the developing world, particularly in Africa," said Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development.

"This agreement demonstrates the kind of collaboration between the public and private sectors that is critical for enhancing the research and development of new vaccines against the world's most devastating infectious diseases," Benn said. "We are proud to have been the first government to provide financial support to IAVI, and we welcome this joint venture."