United States: The Trump administration canceled a major HIV vaccine research program in the United States, which outraged many because it will hinder prevention efforts.
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The Halting of the promising research initiative valued at USD 258 million shocked medical researchers since their years-long project had helped advance treatments for COVID-19, autoimmune diseases, and even antivenom for snakebites.
Friday, officials told researchers at Duke University and the Scripps Research Institute that their funding would be terminated.
According to a senior official, “The consortia for HIV/AIDS vaccine development and immunology was reviewed by NIH leadership, which does not support it moving forward,” the New York Times reported.
The Trump administration is killing almost all NIH-funded HIV vaccine research:https://t.co/9DpW9ClmlN
— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA 🇺🇦 (@celinegounder) May 31, 2025
"This is a setback of probably a decade for HIV vaccine research."
Many will needlessly get sick & die because of profound cruelty & vindictiveness.
by me & @Alexander_Tin
“NIH expects to be shifting its focus toward using currently available approaches to eliminate HIV/AIDS.
Approximately 1.2 million residents in the US are living with HIV, which is around 110,000 in the UK.
“I find it very disappointing that at this critical juncture, the funding for highly successful HIV vaccine research programs should be pulled,” Dennis Burton, who is an immunologist who led the program at Scripps, told the New York Times.
“Donald Trump cutting funding for the HIV vaccine is as mind blowing as it heart breaking,” as per Richard Angell, chief executive of HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust.
“The holy grail of any virus response and the only thing that will eventually keep all Americans safe is a vaccine. A president worthy of the title would want America to be the first country to invent the HIV jab, not walk off the pitch in the eleventh hour.”