# Induction of protective antibodies for HIV vaccine development

> **NIH NIH UM1** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $26,347,892

## Abstract

This Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD) will apply state-of-the-art technologies and
immunologic tools to focus on iterative, rational vaccine design that will lead to a successful final vaccine design.
Much work in previous years has led to this critical juncture in HIV-1 vaccine development where the route
forward has become clearer to a protective HIV-1 vaccine. The rationale for this grant is that the first 13 years
of the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology programs defined the roadblocks preventing a vaccine,
developed first generation HIV-1 immunogens to induce HIV-1 protective antibodies and established a
translational pipeline to accelerate HIV-1 vaccine development. The overall goal of this grant is to develop an
effective HIV-1 vaccine for global use. There are two foci proposed in the CHAVD: Focus 1, strategies for
induction of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs), and Focus 2, strategies for induction of protective
HIV-1 non-neutralizing antibodies. In Focus 1, our overall goal is to design Env immunogens that will elicit
multiple specificities of bnAbs. Here the CHAVD team will design immunogens that induce bnAbs, induce
optimal CD4 T cell help for bnAb induction, transiently down-modulate constraints from negative regulatory
cells and immune tolerance mechanisms, and allow for disfavored bnAb B cell lineages to develop. In Focus
2, our overall goal is to develop multivalent immunogens that induce broad and potent protective non-
neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies (NNAbs). The Management and Operations Unit will oversee the CHAVD
translational pipeline, and each of our six Science Research Support Units (SRSUs) will provide key
elements of immunogen design or pre-clinical evaluation of candidate immunogens. Once designed and
tested in bnAb knock-in mice or in macaques, promising vaccine candidates that pass our go-no go criteria
will be vetted by the CHAVD Scientific Product Development Committee and DAIDS, then produced for
clinical trials in our GMP Production Unit at Duke and tested in Phase I trials by the HIV Vaccine Trials
Network. Our Clinical Trials Sample Analysis Unit will determine the immunogenicity achieved and
provide feedback on immune responses induced in man to Focus 1 or Focus 2 and our SRSUs for iterative
improvement of immunogens. We expect that by the end of this grant, a final vaccine candidate will be
delivered to the NIAID that has reproducibly induced durable levels of either bnAbs or protective NNAbs in rhesus
macaques (RMs) or in a Phase I trial in humans, or in both.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9977914
- **Project number:** 5UM1AI144371-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Barton F. Haynes
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $26,347,892
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-15 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9977914

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9977914, Induction of protective antibodies for HIV vaccine development (5UM1AI144371-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9977914. Licensed CC0.

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