Supporting a Cure for HIV: A Round-Table Discussion

I was invited to participate in a round-table discussion this morning to discuss a proposal by The AIDS Fonds of the Netherlands to establish a mission-driven venture fund to support the development of a cure for HIV. Their idea is to focus on the scalability and accessibility of a cure by incentivizing and conducting research on a cure in the global south. Their dream is to bring a cure to market in the south by 2035.

It was a closed-door invitation only meeting that utilized Chatham House rules so we were specifically asked not to share the names of participating organizations or attribute quotes to any individuals, however, we are free to share the contents of the meetings. There was a broad consensus among attendees that the global south is badly underrepresented in cure research, particularly Africa. Building capacity for cure research in the region is an increasing focus of some organizations such as The Gates Foundation and the NIH. However, without a better understanding of where cure research is heading, it’s hard to devise plans for a scalable cure without knowing what that cure will ultimately look like.

It was a good 3-hour meeting, but I’m personally skeptical of what a fund like this can add, unless it can bring additional currently untapped resources to the search for a cure.

HIV Cure Session

An exciting and inspiring moment during today’s pre-conference HIV cure session: all three successful cure patients who’ve chosen to make their identities public–Adam Castillejo (the London Patient), Marc Franke (the Düsseldorf Patient), and Paul Edmonds (the City of Hope Patient)–spoke onstage together about their experiences. Edmonds likened the experience of sharing his name to that of his coming out, but all three agreed they’d gone public hoping their stories would inspire researchers and people living with HIV to continue to fight for a cure for everyone.

Preconference News

AIDS 2024 doesn’t begin in earnest until Monday, but there has been plenty of knowledge and research shared in pre-conference sessions. Today, the Center for Dissemination & Implementation at Washington University in St. Louis organized a series of discussions on implementation science, focusing on the role researchers, policymakers, industry, and academics should play in making sure innovations make it into the hands of those who need it most.

amfAR’s Annette Sohn and Greg Millett both spoke during today’s sessions: Dr. Sohn moderated a discussion featuring effective examples of implementation science, including some from the Tangerine Clinic, a partner of amfAR’s TREAT Asia program, and Millett spoke about changing policy through science-backed solutions.

I was stuck by something ITPC Global’s Solange Baptiste said during one of the afternoon sessions: “Science does not belong to the one wearing the lab coat.” I hope that’s a sentiment we’ll hear repeated throughout the week; as several major breakthroughs including a new HIV cure case and research on long-acting injectables both for HIV treatment and prevention are set to be presented. What good is science for science’s sake? These innovations mean little to the 9.2 million people worldwide who lack access to HIV treatment if they can’t access them, affordably and safely.

And I hope that’s the spirit in which this live coverage will be received. Not everyone can attend the International AIDS Conference—even fewer as fallout from the CloudStrike meltdown has turned almost all chatter at Messe München toward who’s managed to find a flight and who hasn’t—but the discussions are relevant to all of us. I hope that you’ll enjoy, and learn from, the updates amfAR staff will be providing on the ground.

Tschüß for now, more later!

amfAR at AIDS 2024

An estimated 15,000 participants from around the world are gathering to share information and best practices about HIV/AIDS-related advocacy, public health policy, and research at AIDS 2024 in Munich, Germany. Representatives from amfAR and its TREAT Asia program, as well as amfAR-funded biomedical researchers, are participating in over 25 sessions.

Highlights include:

July 24: Jennifer Sherwood, PhD, Director of Research, Public Policy, facilitator at a satellite session, organized by amfAR and Open Society Foundations, titled “Undue influence: The outsized role of U.S policy in global HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights.”

July 24: Lead investigator Giten Khwairakpam, Program Manager, Community and Policy, TREAT Asia, presenter, “Community-led monitoring goes beyond evaluating essential health components, it also actively addresses issues of rights and social justice in Indonesia and Manipur, India,” which is co-authored by Elise Lankiewicz, amfAR Policy Associate, in a session titled “A tale of two diseases: Novel strategies towards elimination of tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.”

July 24: Greg Millett, MPH, an amfAR VP and Director of Public Policy, invited speaker, “Structural racism and its impact on Black gay men in Europe and America accessing HIV prevention and treatment,” as part of a symposium session titled “Person-centered services: Design and implementation of effective HIV prevention and care.”

July 26: Annette Sohn, MD, PhD, an amfAR VP and Director of TREAT Asia, invited speaker, “Integrating HIV and mental health care: Opportunities for scale-up?,” as part of a symposium session titled “Bridging mind and body: The interconnectedness of HIV and mental health.”