Decades of research on an HIV vaccine boosts the bid for one against coronavirus – The Washington Post
“Yet another terrible disease is about to yield to patience, persistence and outright genius,” Heckler said.
Those decades of research into HIV have taught scientists an enormous amount about the immune system, honed vaccine technologies now being repurposed against the coronavirus and created a worldwide infrastructure of clinical trial networks that can be pivoted from HIV to the pathogen that causes the disease covid-19.
Laboratories, testing sites and recruitment networks that were rushed into action against the coronavirus exist because of the enormous amount of money spent on HIV. Equipment and expertise is in place. Infection control has been upgraded. Regulators are engaged.
“The investment in HIV research has made the response to covid-19 possible,” said Dan H. Barouch, direc...