Federal grant for Duke Health-led Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development not extended
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The US Department of Health and Human Services will not extend a grant funding the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development, work that was led in part by Duke Health.
"Without funding, the major thing that we're doing is slowing innovation, slowing the opportunities of being able to get rid of this disease," said Veleria Levy, Executive Director of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network.
"I'm unfortunately not surprised. I think this is the beginning of some really deep cuts in the HIV space. Some deep and dangerous cuts. As we are finally getting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and now is not the time to take our foot off the gas," added Chelsea Gulden, the Chief Executive Officer of RAIN Inc..
I think stopping that momentum that we have working toward getting to zero new cases of HIV is really dangerous because we are dismantling entire structures that have been built to address specific barriers within this disease state.- Chelsea Gulden, CEO of RAIN Inc.
Gulden has been living with HIV for 21 years. She's worried funding cuts could jeopardize progress made in combating the virus.
"I think stopping that momentum that we have working toward getting to zero new cases of HIV is really dangerous because we are dismantling entire structures that have been built to address specific barriers within this disease state, both globally and domestically. We lose that institutional knowledge as we terminate people and they go away from the field of HIV or they retire without an appropriate opportunity to pass that down," Gulden said.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports that as of December 2023, 37,490 North Carolinians were living with HIV, including 1,410 people newly diagnosed that year. Though prevalence globally is dropping, there are still 1.3 million new cases a year.
"It's really scary to think that we could be really reverting back decades of work and see the cases go the opposite direction of what I've dedicated my life and my career to work towards reducing," said Gulden.
Critical HIV/AIDS programs will continue under the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). We must end this wasteful and inefficient model of health programming in favor of strategic, coordinated approaches.- US Dept. Health and Human Services spokesperson
"These are lives. These are saving people's lives, saving people's jobs, saving people's families," said Levy.
The Duke Human Vaccine Institute and Scripps Research Institute were the two consortiums nationally leading the work.
"(Funding) is the backbone of prevention, treatment, research, every bit of it here in this country. It fuels everything from innovation that we constantly hear about Duke to the frontline AIDS services organizations," Levy explained.
They've been testing components of an HIV vaccine in humans and would need three or four of those components for one vaccine.
If the grant had been extended, the work would have focused on combining those components to create a vaccine.
In a statement, Duke Health officials wrote:
"The NIH has terminated the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD) program by deciding that the notice of opportunity for the new CHAVD grant that would have started in July 2026 will not be issued. The Duke Human Vaccine Institute was one of two consortiums funded through that program. This represents an enormous setback for the development of a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS.
In the more than two decades since the Duke Human Vaccine Institute received the initial seven-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, CHAVD researchers at Duke and affiliated institutions around the country have not only made significant discoveries about HIV, but have also contributed to the science that has led to a new pan-coronavirus vaccine and autoimmune therapies.
Among their HIV discoveries, the CHAVD team has identified the mechanisms the AIDS virus uses to infect humans, and they have developed effective strategies to outmaneuver the virus's stealth. Most importantly, they have completed clinical trials in humans with vaccine candidates that have induced the desired type of anti-HIV antibody responses.
Recent advances in vaccine development, including mRNA technology, have spurred the research even further, reaching a pivotal juncture with components for a vaccine currently in human trials and the prospect of an effective vaccine within reach.
This is life-saving work. While new HIV infections have been declining worldwide, there are still 1.3 million new cases a year, according to the World Health Organization. More than 120,000 children become infected with the virus each year, many via transmission from their mothers at birth."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a vocal critic of mRNA technology, though that was not listed as a reason behind the decision.
A spokesperson for the Department stressed maximizing taxpayer funding and highlighted duplicative health programs, including "27 separate programs that address HIV/AIDS, spending $7.5 billion."
"Critical HIV/AIDS programs will continue under the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). We must end this wasteful and inefficient model of health programming in favor of strategic, coordinated approaches. The creation of AHA does not eliminate priorities or functions; instead, it unites previously independent programs to work together to Make America Healthy Again," the spokesperson wrote.
"It is definitely my hope that the federal government understands the impact that their decisions and funding cuts will make on the lives and the public health of everyone," said Gulden.
