Puerto Rico To Become Center of HIV Vaccine Research

On September 9, Governor Alejandro Garc�a Padilla of Puerto Rico announced that as part of the Island's economic recovery plan, a collaborative partnership between recognized health and research organizations, academia, the local government and the private sector will make Puerto Rico a center for research and development for the generation of a prophylactic vaccine to fight HIV/AIDS.

"Puerto Rico is becoming a key partner in the battle against one of the worst epidemic viruses that has affected mankind, HIV/AIDS," said Padilla. "The National Institutes of Health reached out to the University of Puerto Rico as a suitable partner because of the talent of our scientists, the level of infrastructure of our biotechnological ecosystem, and because of the strength of our science economy. Puerto Rico has everything to be the center of research and production of this vaccine."

The University of Puerto Rico will oversee the project, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust (PRSTRT), the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (NIAID-DAIDS) for the Generation of Human Immunodeficiency Various (HIV) Vaccine. The total investment is $1.1 million coming from NIH through the NIAID-DAIDS; and $365,000 in matching funds from PSRTRT that will be used to purchase equipment.

One of the key points of this project is the alliance between academia and the private sector to conduct a research of this level. Research Personnel under the supervision of Puerto Rican scientists Dr. Jos� Lasalde and Dr. Abel Baerga-Ortiz form UPR, and Dr. Ignacio Pino and Dr. Daniel Echinger from CDI Laboratories in Mayaguez will work on finding a generation of recombinant HIV envelop protein that could lead to a prophylactic vaccine.

The teams of researchers will work in UPR facilities, in the Bioprocess Development and Training Complex (BDTC) in Mayaguez, and in the Molecular Science Research Building (MSRB) in R�o Piedras. Close to 30 scientists and students will work on the different phases of the research project.

The Governor explained that "this project establishes Puerto Rico as a partner in a collaboration between industry, academia, research and development that will be dedicated to the production of clinical grade HIV envelope protein to be tested as prophylactic vaccines. Our island has evolved from manufacturing over the counter drugs to being an instrumental partner in research to manufacture analytical/biophysical characterization development of a vaccine to fight HIV/AIDS."

The project will take place in three stages that will last approximately five (5) years. The first stage, about molecular research and development, will fulfill highly specialized analytical characterization of early iterations of active protogoneous products. The second stage will bench small scale production of the protein with clinical attributes and will provide the NIH with material for clinical trials, and the third stage will be about large scale production.

According to recent reports of the World Health Organization (WHO), since the beginning of the epidemic, close to 75 million people have been infected. Today there are more than 35.3 million people infected with HIV/AIDS; 3.34 million of these people are children. Within three decades it has fallen into the category of being the deadliest infectious disease to have affected the planet, causing over 36 million deaths.

"HIV/AIDS is still a costly epidemic, not only because it impacts millions of lives, but because of the toll it takes on public and private funds," said Iv�n R�os Mena, Executive Director of the PRSTRT. "With this landmark project, we strengthen our mission of supporting local research. The funds we are providing to leverage this project reaffirms our commitment to the development of a knowledge economy."