New York, NY, January 23, 2007-- The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative is pleased to announce the publication of "AIDS Vaccine Development: Challenges and Opportunities," one of the most comprehensive overviews of AIDS vaccine development published to date. This 140-page series of mini-reviews presents the scientific hurdles that have impeded the search for an effective AIDS vaccine and discusses novel research approaches to accelerate its progress.
Today, a quarter of a century into the global AIDS epidemic, we still have not been able to find a solution to effectively fight HIV. Prevention research has expanded significantly in recent years, with more funding available, and with greater participation of scientists, organizations and industry partners worldwide. New prevention technologies have the potential to change the course of the epidemic, and this is particularly true for an AIDS vaccine. Even a modestly-effective AIDS vaccine could reduce the number of new infections over a decade by one-third, savings tens of millions of lives worldwide.
"AIDS Vaccine Development: Challenges and Opportunities" examines:
- the epidemiological profile of the current pandemic
- the characteristics of an ideal AIDS vaccine
- the pre-clinical vaccine design challenges, including strategies for developing candidates that elicit broadly-neutralizing, cellular and mucosal immune responses
- issues facing the advancement of vaccine candidates to large-scale efficacy clinical trials
- hurdles in vaccine manufacturing, regulatory oversight and global delivery.
Leading experts in AIDS vaccine research have contributed to this series of mini-reviews, covering the entire scope of AIDS vaccine development, from basic research to product delivery. The book is intended to advise today's scientists, immunologists, virologists and public health specialists on the current challenges and future direction of AIDS vaccine development.
Copies of "AIDS Vaccine Development: Challenges and Opportunities" may be obtained online at http://www.horizonpress.com/hsp/books/hivv.html.