Fundraising Goal met for HIV Vaccine

Immunity Project has reached its fundraising goal of $462,000 using crowdfunding. The funds will be used to complete a final experiment before clinical trials begin on humans. All donations are tax-deductible. The Phase 1 clinical trials for the vaccine will cost approximately $25 million dollars.

HIV/AIDS was selected by the Immunity Project because over 35 million people are currently living with HIV. Over 30 million lives have been lost to HIV since 1983, with 4,000 people losing the battle each day. Developing an HIV vaccine is of the utmost urgency.

The crowdfunding campaign of Immunity Project has drawn criticism for it's lack of scientific research and peer-reviewed processes. Most vaccine ideas fail, for various reasons, and the HIV vaccine that Immunity Project is developing is a long way off from known success, approval, and being available.

Despite the criticisms against Immunity Project, it has increased awareness about the work being done on an HIV vaccine and they are using the funds raised to further their research on the current vaccine. Whether the vaccine works remains to be seen, but having a new view of the scientific process behind developing vaccines is interesting. Immunity Project has also increased awareness on the need for an HIV vaccine.

Crowdfunding for HIV Vaccine Now Open

The Immunity Project Team

Earlier this month, we posted about HIV Vaccine Research that is currently taking place. The Wall Street Journal announced that Y Combinator is now backing the Immunity Project in their research to develop an HIV vaccine.

The Immunity Project has received $20,000 from Y Combinator to continue their research, which will move into the clinical trials phase soon.

In order to complete clinical trials, the Immunity Project needs to raise funds, and has set up a tax-deductible donation page on their website. Immunity Project has partnered with Until There's A Cure Foundation. To date, 1,189 supporters have donated $243,735. The goal is to raise $482,000. A detailed budget and timeline is also available on the fundraising website, with clinical trials being on track to begin in the United States in December 2014.

HIV/AIDS was selected by the Immunity Project because over 35 million people are currently living with HIV.  Over 30 million lives have been lost to HIV since 1983, with 4,000 people losing the battle each day. Developing an HIV vaccine is of the utmost urgency.

HIV Vaccine Research

Photo: Immunity Project

Research is being conducted by many organizations to develop an HIV vaccine. Immunity Project, a nonprofit based out of California is rallying support and building funding through the public.

The Immunity Project is attempting to hack into the AIDS virus life cycle and produce an inhaled vaccine. A finite group of people carry HIV, but don’t contract AIDS and the vaccine would build off this unique circumstance to offer protection. Researchers are using computers to develop the vaccine and hope to test it in humans in 2014.

Teams at the University of California, San Francisco and the Oregon Health & Science University, as well as others, are also working on HIV vaccines. Most scientists have focused on antibodies, while the Immunity Project arms T cells so they can fend off an HIV attack.

Immunity Project would like to offer their vaccine for free if the clinical trials in the United States and South Africa (2015) go well. They are using a $25 million crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for research and future distribution. The vaccine will be an inhaled nasal vaccine, making it effective in AIDS hotspots like sub-Saharan Africa where doctors, nurses, sterile needles and refrigerators are limited.