Canada: $88 Million AIDS Vaccine Trial Facility Scrapped

No finalists were successful in a recent bid to host an $88 million (US $83 million) small-batch vaccine manufacturing plant that would have facilitated HIV/AIDS vaccine trials and research in Canada. Plans for the facility have been scrapped by the Canadian government and its partner, the Gates Foundation, according to those familiar with the process.

First announced three years ago, the facility was to have become part of Canada's $139 million (US $130 million) HIV Vaccine Initiative. The Gates Foundation pledged up to $28 million (US $26 million).

The vaccine initiative was on the agenda for talks between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in Davos late January, sources say. No reasons were given to institutions whose bids were unsuccessful. Proposals were tendered by the International Center for Infectious Diseases; the International Consortium on Anti-Virals; and Laval University and the University of Western Ontario.

By itself, the government's decision not to proceed does not diminish the importance of its cooperation with the Gates Foundation, said Alan Bernstein, head of the New York-based Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. "When Mr. Gates came to Canada, it was not to build a plant, it was to engage in a partnership," he said. "I expect that partnership to continue. To me, that is the important thing."

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