GSK, UNC Chapel partner to accelerate search for HIV cure

Under the public-private partnership (PPP), research scientists from both parties will work together in an HIV Cure center, which will be located at UNC.

The two entities will also jointly own a new company, Qura Therapeutics, which will be responsible for managing business side of the partnership, including intellectual property, commercialization, manufacturing and governance.

Through Qura, GSK will invest $4m per year for five years to fund the initial HIV Cure center research plan, and a small research team from the British firm will move to Chapel Hill to be co-located with UNC researchers.

UNC will offer laboratory space on its medical campus for the HIV Cure center and the new company.

The deal will see GSK contribute its expertise and know-how in medicines discovery, development and manufacturing, while UNC-Chapel Hill will bring to the table its research and translational medicine capabilities, talent, as well as access to patients and funding.

UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt said: "The excitement of this public-private partnership lies in its vast potential. Carolina has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS research for the last 30 years.

"This first of its kind, joint-ownership model is a novel approach toward finding a cure, and we hope it serves as an invitation to the world’s best researchers and scientists. Today, Carolina’s best are taking another major step in the global fight against HIV/AIDS."

The company said that the HIV Cure center and Qura Therapeutics will jointly serve as a catalyst for additional partners and public funding that will likely be needed to eliminate HIV across the world.

GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty said: "Like UNC, GSK has a long legacy of HIV research success. From the development of the world’s first breakthrough medicine for HIV patients in the 1980s, to our leadership in the market today through ViiV Healthcare, we’re continuously challenging ourselves to meet the needs of patients."

As part of the deal, both the parties will focus on the latest scientific approaches, including a research approach toward an HIV cur called ‘shock and kill’, which seeks to reveal the hidden virus that persists in people with HIV infection despite successful drug therapy, and augment the patient’s immune system to clear these last traces of the virus and infected cells.

According to the British firm, investment in the HIV Cure center is separate from its investment in the discovery of new antiretroviral (ARV) therapies in support of ViiV Healthcare, a global specialist HIV company owned by GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi.

Image: GlaxoSmithKline headquarters in London, UK. Photo: courtesy of Maxwell Hamilton.