IAVI

17/02/2026

Please join us for this March 3 webinar!

Despite major advances in HIV prevention and treatment, persistent inequities, emerging drug resistance, and recent global funding cuts threaten progress and the future of HIV vaccine R&D. An effective HIV vaccine remains essential to ending the epidemic. This IAS–IAVI Timely Topic Webinar will ex...

28/10/2025

Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Africa’s HIV Research Community Responds to Funding Cuts:

IAVI Report shares two powerful stories that highlight the unwavering dedication of African scientists and institutions in the face of U.S. government funding cuts to HIV vaccine research.

In Dedication, not Defeat, Kristen Kresge Abboud reflects on her 16-year journey reporting on HIV research across Africa. From Cape Town to Nairobi to Lusaka, she chronicles the resilience of researchers who continue to push forward despite power outages, misinformation campaigns, and now, funding shortfalls. She captures the optimism and strategic vision of leaders like Dr. Marianne Wanjiru Mureithi, Director of KAVI - Institute of Clinical Research (KAVI-ICR), who are forging new alliances and diversifying funding to sustain critical HIV research

🌍 In Of All the Moments for Science to Slow Down This Is Not It, michael dumiak reports on how seasoned leaders and young and mid-career researchers are maintaining HIV vaccine and prevention research in Africa and finding ways to support the talent in research labs across sub-Saharan Africa. He captures the strategic vision of leaders like Dr. Penny Moore, head of the Divisions of Virology and Immunology at the University of the Witwatersrand and National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), who tries to focus on the remarkable promise made in recent years in HIV immunology, virology, and vaccinology.

💡 These stories are a testament to the scientific talent, infrastructure, and community engagement built over decades — and the determination to keep going, no matter the challenge.

📣 As Dr. Penny Moore says: “Of all the moments for science to slow down, this is not it.”

👉 Read both articles and be inspired by the strength and ingenuity of Africa’s HIV research community
https://www.iavi.org/iavi-report/dedication-not-defeat/

09/09/2025

🔔 IAVI is pleased to announce that West African ministers of health endorsed a communiqué yesterday pledging their joint commitment to advance the development of, and readiness for, much-needed vaccines against . The signing took place on the sidelines of the 2nd Lassa Fever International Conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire .

💉 No vaccines currently exist for Lassa fever, despite annual outbreaks that exact a heavy toll on the region. The most advanced Lassa fever vaccine candidate has been developed by IAVI with funding from Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations - CEPI and the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). IAVI’s promising vaccine candidate is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2a clinical trial to assess the vaccine’s safety and immunogenicity in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria – the most advanced study of a Lassa fever vaccine to take place anywhere in the world.

🗣️ Dr. Mark Feinberg, IAVI president and CEO, said: "We welcome this unprecedented opportunity to advance IAVI's promising Lassa fever vaccine candidate in close partnership with West African governments, Institut Pasteur de Dakar – a regionally based manufacturer – and regional scientific and public health leaders. By signing this communiqué, we are not just one step closer to an affordable and accessible Lassa vaccine; we are building a global health partnership that can provide a new model to advance the development, and to ensure sustainable and affordable supply of, vaccines targeting diseases where there is no commercial incentive for private, for-profit companies to invest."

📰 Read the announcement: https://www.iavi.org/press-release/west-african-leaders-commit-to-advance-lassa-fever-vaccine-for-the-region/

Find out how health leaders are pushing for a Lassa fever vaccine at the ECOWAS Lassa fever conference in Côte d'Ivoire.

28/08/2025

We’re pleased to share IAVI’s 2024 Annual Report with you. Together with partners, funders, and communities, IAVI made significant progress last year across our portfolio of products designed to translate scientific innovation into public health solutions.

✨ “IAVI gratefully acknowledges contributions from our funders, partners, staff, and committed colleagues in global health, along with study volunteers. Together, we are paving the way for the development of safe and effective vaccines and antibody products that will benefit people globally. In 2025, despite political headwinds, we look forward to developing global health tools and strengthening sustainable capacity for health research in Africa and India.” – Mark Feinberg, IAVI president and CEO

Read and share widely:https://www.iavi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IAVI-2024-Annual-Report.pdf

22/08/2025

What is Sudan virus, and why do we need a vaccine to address this global health threat?

Hear directly from Swati Gupta, IAVI's VP and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology.

💡 Read the blog to learn more about IAVI's contributions to the rapid outbreak response in Uganda earlier this year: LINK IN BIO!

🎬 Watch the full video: youtube.com/

18/08/2025

We knew we had to act fast when an outbreak of Sudan virus (SUDV) was declared in Uganda earlier this year.

This orthoebolavirus causes a severe, often fatal illness in humans with a case fatality rate of 41–100%.

In just four days, IAVI, World Health Organization (WHO), Ugandan health authorities, and other global partners mobilized to deploy IAVI’s promising investigational SUDV vaccine candidates. Luckily, we were ready with an existing stockpile and the right protocols, contracts, and clearances in place.

Swati Gupta, IAVI's VP and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology, is telling the full story in a new opinion piece for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

"An effective, accessible vaccine could transform the outlook for communities facing the risk of future SUDV outbreaks," writes Gupta. "Because when the next outbreak comes – and we know from experience that it will – even the most coordinated and rapid response won’t be enough."

Go behind the scenes of this successful outbreak response 📣 https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/what-it-takes-launch-world-first-vaccination-trial-during-outbreak

The race to ensure an effective vaccine for Sudan virus is on.

12/08/2025

Scientists, health care professionals, communities, governments, funding agencies, and advocates are all coming together to work toward the same goal: a safe and effective HIV vaccine.

We are in sight of a vaccine that could help us end the HIV pandemic. According to Vincent Muturi-Kioi, IAVI's HIV vaccines product development team lead, the progress that we've made is only the beginning.

Watch the full IAVI Impact video ▶️ youtube.com/

04/08/2025

news: The first doses of an investigational HIV vaccine candidate have been administered in a Phase 1 clinical trial taking place in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The trial is designed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate, Gorilla Adenovirus Vectored HIV Networked Epitopes Vaccine (GRAdHIVNE1), in people living with and without HIV.

“This trial represents the future of vaccine development, rooted in Africa, built through global partnerships, and designed for the communities most affected by HIV,” said Dr. Vincent Muturi-Kioi, IAVI’s HIV vaccines product development team lead.

IAVI is sponsoring the clinical trial, IAVI C114. We are grateful to our partners and collaborators whose hard work has made this trial possible: ReiThera developed the GRAd viral vector platform and manufactured the vaccine candidate, while Ragon Institute designed the immunogen using novel strategies to identify protective HIV epitopes and facilitate their targeting by T cells. The clinical research is being conducted by the Mutala Trust, Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, and Africa Health Research Institute.

Read the press release:

Led by a team of African researchers, first doses of the novel T cell-inducing GRAdHIVNE1 vaccine candidate have been given.

01/08/2025

How was a global team able to launch a ring vaccination trial in just four days during an outbreak?

On Jan. 30, Uganda confirmed its sixth disease outbreak due to Sudan virus ( ), an orthoebolavirus that causes a severe and often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever. IAVI, World Health Organization (WHO), Ugandan health officials, and other partners quickly mobilized to begin administering IAVI’s investigational SUDV vaccine candidate* by Feb. 3. The outbreak was declared over on Apr. 26.

We sat down with Swati Gupta, IAVI’s VP and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology, to discuss this blueprint for a successful outbreak response.

What worked:

💉 Vaccine stockpiling in-country
🤝 Pre-approved protocols and documentation
🌍 International collaboration and funding

With a high case fatality rate and no vaccines currently available, SUDV poses a risk to global health security. Advancing IAVI’s rVSV-based vaccine candidate is a top priority, and we look forward to disseminating results from this trial together with our partners. Critical activities over the next 12 months will be supported by an emergency award from the Dutch government: https://www.iavi.org/features/iavi-receives-e1-million-from-dutch-government-for-sudan-virus-vaccine-development/

Fast facts about the outbreak: https://www.iavi.org/features/fast-facts-about-iavis-contributions-to-the-2025-sudan-virus-disease-outbreak-in-uganda/

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations - CEPI | European Commission | IDRC / CRDI | Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken | 財務省 | Africa CDC

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*In 2022, Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, produced and donated to IAVI vials of rVSV∆G-SEBOV-GP candidate vaccine from existing investigational drug substance to supplement IAVI’s ongoing SUDV vaccine development program. IAVI now acts as developer and regulatory sponsor and is responsible for all aspects of future development of rVSV∆G-SEBOV-GP.

31/07/2025

IAVI is pleased to announce that our new (TB) epidemiological study, IAVI X103 HOPE (Health Outcome Preparedness using Epidemiology), screened its first participant on July 22! This study will provide hyper-local data on TB burden near our clinical research center partners.

🎯 Our goal: Assess TB transmission in high-burden areas and provide key epidemiological data that will ultimately help inform the design and location of late-stage TB vaccine efficacy trials.

With over 10.8 million people becoming newly ill with TB each year, this data will contribute to our urgent efforts to bring a new and effective TB vaccine to licensure.

This cross-sectional observational cohort study will screen approximately 1,200 participants at Kenya Medical Research Institute, Medunsa Clinical Research Unit, and Ubuntu Clinical Research.

Learn about the study design here:

Learn about how this study supports the preparation for late-stage tuberculosis (TB) vaccine efficacy trials by providing key epidemiological data.

26/07/2025

The world’s largest gathering on HIV science, the IAS - International AIDS Society Conference, returned for its 13th edition last week. in Kigali brought together more than 4,000 delegates as scientific progress continues to accelerate, global funding slows, and hard questions resurface around political will, access, and equity.

IAVI was thrilled to lead and participate across a variety of sessions. Our team hosted conversations on community engagement in early-stage vaccine research while contributing to key discussions on germline targeting and future vaccine candidates.

📣 Bottom line: The road ahead means strengthening collaboration, supporting local partnerships, and ensuring that advances in vaccine science and prevention translate into real solutions.

Read our post-conference reflections here: https://www.iavi.org/features/ias-2025-kigali-reaffirms-what-it-will-take-to-keep-hiv-progress-from-sliding-back/

Also available on video 🎬 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A5BkeZy1MkE

Learn more about IAVI's presence at this year's WVC in a dynamic global health landscape.

18/07/2025

“We will not go back.” That’s a wrap from . Listen in for reflections and closing thoughts from Kigali.