HIV vaccine
advocate will press for doubled funding

Seth Berkley, president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, says he plans to push attendees at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland, to double donations for HIV vaccine research to a total of $1.2 billion annually. IAVI estimates that about $682 million is spent annually on HIV vaccine research, about 15% of which comes from the private sector.

Berkley said the potential bird flu epidemic has highlighted the problems that result from not taking a long-term approach to vaccine development based on economic incentives for private companies. "The whole system for vaccines is not aligned properly," Berkley said, adding, "We have to find better ways to accelerate research, finance research, and to create incentives for pharmaceutical companies." (Reuters, with additional reporting by Advocate.com)