In recognition of the need for pioneers to produce new alternatives and hope against the HIV/AIDS pandemic,GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is offering $500,000 in unrestricted awards for innovative HIV/AIDS drug research.
Applications are now being solicited for 2002 awards and must be submitted by July 31. The one-time awards are from $25,000 to $150,000 and are intended to further the development of inventive treatments for HIV/AIDS, including therapies aimed at treating infection as well as prophylactic vaccines or microbicides designed to prevent transmission of the virus.
Award recipients will be chosen by three leading independent AIDS researchers. For detailed information about the GSK Drug Discovery and Development Award, as well as an application, please call 1-888-527-6935.
"Science and medicine have made incredible advances in the treatment of people living with HIV in the last decade, and providing support to researchers is key to keeping things moving forward," said Doug Manion, M.D., vice president of clinical development for GSK. "We are supportive of researchers in the scientific community in their ceaseless goal of finding new solutions to drug-resistance and viral mutation, the spread of the virus and simplification of treatment, and who are working towards the eradication of HIV and AIDS."
The award carries no obligation to the recipient's organization for licensure, patenting or transfer of confidential information, although GSK may discuss the possibility of future collaboration with some applicants.
An Expert Review Board comprised of acknowledged leaders in the field of HIV/AIDS will independently judge and choose the award recipients. Although GSK will be able to review proposals, it will not be involved in the selection of recipients.
For purposes of the award program, the judges will define "drug discovery and development" as one or more of the following:
- The development of an assay against a novel and specific HIV target.
- Screening of compounds against an established assay.
- Pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo potency and toxicology studies.
- Translational studies of novel therapies.
Judges will employ the following definition of "novel" and "innovative research":
- Uses new paradigms to approach clinical problems.
- Develops techniques or assays to new targets.
- Adapts existing methods or models developed in other disciplines to solve clinical problems in HIV/AIDS.
The research proposals will be considered according to: potential importance to the field and health in general; originality; appropriateness of the methodology and scope of the project; and the researchers' ability to conduct the proposed research.
Research projects submitted for the award likely will be in the early stage, and not yet sufficiently developed for a major research grant, but if successful, may qualify for major funding in future years.
Award recipients will be announced in September 2002 at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Diego. The awards will be paid Nov. 1, 2002.
"While amazing advances have been made in recent years, and men and women with the terrible disease are living fuller, longer lives, there is much to be done," said Barney Koszalka, Ph.D., director of the virology division for GSK. "We initiated the Drug Discovery and Development Award program in 2001, and last year's recipients included researchers who focused on various approaches to inhibiting HIV's ability to integrate into human cells. They continue their good work, but there are an infinite number of other potential approaches and we want to support the efforts, with no strings attached."
Recipients of the 2001 Drug Discovery and Development Award were Richard Kornbluth, M.D. Ph.D, University of California, San Diego, for research to facilitate testing of chemical compounds that inhibit HIV integration into human T-cells; Erwann Loret, Ph.D., Institut de Biologie Structurale et Microbiologie, Marseilles, France, for the study of an essential protein in the life cycle of HIV and his contribution to the development of a new class of drugs that may inhibit the viral protein; and Linqi Zhang, Ph.D., Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York City, for work to improve understanding and testing of protein interactions that will potentially lead to an effective anti-HIV drug that inhibits HIV from fusing with the host cell.
GlaxoSmithKline is a pharmaceutical industry leader in HIV research and therapies. The company is engaged in basic research programs designed to investigate new targets to treat HIV. In addition to GlaxoSmithKline's Drug Discovery and Development Award, the company also provides grants to community based organizations that provide services to those whose lives are most affected by HIV.