TAG challenges HIV vaccine cuts as Robert F. Kennedy fires entire CDC vaccine expert advisory panel
6 June 2025. Related: Early access, Treatment access, Activism & advocacy, Research studies.
Simon Collins, HIV i-Base
On 5 June 2025, NYC-based organisation Treatment Action Group (TAG) challenged the drastic cuts in US funding on research in vaccines, including for HIV, COVID and Ebola.
The press release was responding to news that the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has unilaterally ended funding for HIV vaccine research.
Other impacts on research include
- Stopping funding for studies by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN).
- Cancelling more than $500 million grants to Moderna for mRNA-based research, including for Avian flu.
- Cancelling contracts for early pre-clinical assessments of HIV vaccine candidates.
- The Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) has reportedly instructed NIH “not to issue any more funding in the next fiscal year for HIV vaccine research, with only a small handful of exceptions.”
Please see the press release for further details and full references.
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Shortly after this article was posted, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. fired and replaced the entire CDC vaccine advisory panel. [2]
Reference
- TAG press release. Treatment Action Group Statement on termination of HIV vaccine research funding. (5 June 2025).
www.treatmentactiongroup.org/statement/treatment-action-group-statement-on-termination-of-hiv-vaccine-research-funding - Reuters. Kennedy dismisses entire US CDC vaccine panel, replacing all 17 members. (June 2025).
www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/all-members-vaccine-advisory-panel-will-be-retired-us-health-secretary-kennedy-2025-06-09/