Defining the objectives of the AIDS vaccine for Asia network: report of the WHO-UNAIDS/Global HIV vaccine enterprise regional consultation on expanding AIDS vaccine research and development capacity in Asia

Abstract

An important meeting titled “Defining the Objectives of the AIDS Vaccine Asian Network (AVAN)” was held 22–24 February 2009, in Beijing. This report describes the outcomes of this meeting. The meeting was jointly organised by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise (GHVE) Regional Consultation on Expanding AIDS Vaccine Research and Development Capacity in Asia. Sixty-eight participants (Supplementary Digital Content 1) and observers gathered together from 16 countries including Australia, Cambodia, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United States of America and Viet Nam. The meeting was highly relevant for the Asian region at a time when the HIV epidemic is still rampant despite concerted efforts by governments, communities, scientists and key stakeholders to stem its impact and advance. A great deal of work has been undertaken towards an AIDS vaccine over the past 15 years and the region has the essential assets to move the agenda forward. Genesis of the 2009 Beijing meeting In 1998, the first Asian meeting specifically devoted to AIDS vaccine research and development was convened by WHO-UNAIDS and the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Tokyo, Japan. In 2006, the regional strategy concept was revisited at the first WHO-UNAIDS regional consultation, Expanding Capacity and Accelerating AIDS Vaccine Development in Asia, hosted and co-organized by the University of Hokkaido, Sapporo, Japan. The 7 recommendations of the 2006 Sapporo meeting were to: First, create forums to facilitate interactions between funders and discuss funding opportunities, funding streams and funder capabilities. Second, facilitate linkages between research and development (R&D), innovation and discovery, in particular in emerging countries with strong innovation capacity, such as China, India and Thailand, and clinical trial capacity and production. Third, provide a forum for coordination of regional expertise, capacity building, and technical assistance. Fourth, promote advocacy and communication support for region-specific strategies. Fifth, contribute to and promote the implementation of the Scientific Strategic Plan of the GHVE. Sixth, prepare for future deployment of a vaccine by discussing regional approaches to ensure access, delivery capacity, demand estimates, epidemiology, vaccine characteristics, and strategies for delivery. Seventh, create a regional harmonization or regional authority for regulatory interactions, including regional licensure review and regional ethics committees with an initial ‘core’ working group. To effectively implement and further facilitate the recommendation to develop an ongoing forum for coordination of regional expertise, capacity building and technical assistance, the establishment of AVAN was proposed. In February 2009, the Chinese AIDS Vaccine Initiative (CAVI), GHVE and WHO-UNAIDS convened a follow-up meeting in Beijing, China to speed up implementation of recommendations of the Sapporo consultation.