Image: NIAID [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
Researchers are in a race against time to test shelved vaccine candidate before vials expire
A project developing HIV vaccines in Africa has been dealt a major blow after losing its funding as a result of US aid cuts, the South African Medical Research Council has confirmed.
On 3 March, the SAMRC said the grant of US$45.6 million for its Brilliant consortium, awarded by the US Agency for International Development in 2023, has been terminated.
The consortium is aiming to develop vaccine candidates and strengthen laboratory services. Its first HIV vaccine trial was set to start at the end of January 2025. Now, vaccine vials are sitting in storage while the SAMRC casts around for alternative funding to complete the trial.
The project is one of several funded by the US federal government that have seen their funding slashed in a bid by president Donald Trump’s administration to rein in spending and realign aid with its America First ideology.
Expiration date
There is not much time to find alternative funding, an SAMRC spokesperson told Research Professional News. “The expiration date is March 2026, which means that we need to enrol participants soon. The latest we can enrol by is June or July 2025.”
Glenda Gray, programme director and principal investigator for Brilliant, said the termination of the grant is “catastrophic” for the planned scientific work, which would also involve training African scientists.
“To pick [up] this ambitious programme will require a lot of funding from all sectors within the African continent,” she said.
Urgent challenge
In a statement, SAMRC president Ntobeko Ntusi said it is time for African governments, the private sector and philanthropic organisations to step forward, “ensuring that decades of progress are not lost but rather accelerated by homegrown innovation and investment”.
“Now, more than ever, there is an opportunity for the continent to take charge of its own HIV and Aids funding and research agenda,” he said.
In addition to South Africa, the consortium includes partners from Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
View this article on Research Professional