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HIV Cure Initiative gains momentum following Sunnylands retreat: Sunnylands Initiative highlighted during International AIDS Conference
Friday, September 5, 2014
The primary goal of the Initiative is to bring together interested parties so that the eradication of HIV disease can be rapidly achieved. The specific step being taken by the alliance is the creation of a strategic road map that will set forth milestones associated with various efforts and guide stakeholders over the next several years. The effort is seen as a way to “ignite and sustain the cross-sector engagement and collaboration” necessary to move this important agenda forward. This initiative, which seeks to be “maximally inclusive” and international, is seen as one to augment—not overlap–the many existing efforts already underway in the search for a cure.
Jack Whitescarver and Nobel Laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, who participated in the Sunnylands retreat, at the International AIDS Conference. ©IAS, Steve Forrest
Since the 2013 Sunnylands Summit on Public Private Partnerships for Research toward a Cure for HIV, two working groups have refined the thinking and expanded the group of stakeholders.
A slide from the Power Point presentation at the Melbourne Conference
The alliance presented in July 2014 at an International AIDS Society-sponsored symposium entitled “Toward an HIV Cure,” held in conjunction with the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. This conference, attended by more than 14,000 delegates from 200 countries, is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV.
Until a permanent home is identified for the initiative, the Seattle-based Infectious Disease Research Institute will serve as a temporary fiscal sponsor. Currently a steering committee is preparing a structure for management and accountability. Initial funding has come from both public and private sources, including the NIH Office of AIDS Research.
Dr. Mike McCune, University of California, San Francisco, who attended the Sunnylands retreat, presented at a roundtable on Public and Private Partnerships in HIV Cure Research. That presentation can be heard here in its entirety.
An international alliance of leading scientific, governmental, philanthropic, and industrial organizations have come together and resolved “to identify, test, and distribute interventions that will, in conjunction with effective antiretroviral therapy lead to a drug-free remission (or cure) in HIV-infected individuals.” This HIV Cure Public-Private Partnership Initiative is also known as the “Sunnylands Initiative,” following a 2013 Sunnylands retreat.
