AIDS Vaccine R&D Funding – Latest Data Shows Concerning Trends

NEW YORK – The latest data from the HIV Vaccines and Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group highlights concerning trends in funding for vaccine-related research and development. Among the report’s key findings:

• There’s a flat trend in AIDS vaccine R&D investment.
  • While funding for crucial HIV treatment and prevention programs in low- and middle-income countries is rising, vaccine R&D funding has essentially stayed flat for the past seven years.
• The vaccine R&D donor pool is shrinking and needs greater diversity.
  • The majority of investment is coming from fewer large funders, raising risks to sustainability: 84% of vaccine R&D funding comes from just two sources: the United States government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • The number of philanthropic donors who funded overall HIV prevention R&D in 2014 (16) was about half what it was in 2010 (30).
  • More than 99% of philanthropic funding for AIDS vaccine R&D in particular comes from just three sources: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (87%), the Ragon Foundation (approx. 8%) and Wellcome Trust (approx. 5%).
• AIDS vaccine R&D has been getting ever more dependent on US government funding.
  • US government investments account for 70% of all funding for AIDS vaccine R&D.
  • Only 4.8% of HIV vaccine funding comes from European sources, a drop of 10% in 2014 over 2013 and of more than half from its 2006 height.
  • BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) provide 1.3% of funding.

Read the press release and the full report at www.hivresourcetracking.org.

HIV Prevention Research & Development Funding Trends 2000–2014: Investment Priorities To Fund Innovation In An Evolving Global Health And Development Landscape is the 11th annual report by the Working Group, a collaboration among AVAC, UNAIDS, and IAVI.