The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, have announced a strategic partnership to develop and manufacture affordable and accessible monoclonal antibody products for HIV and other global health challenges.

"IAVI is committed to translating scientific innovation into public health solutions, and we are collaborating with Serum Institute to enable global access to broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bNAbs) against HIV, if they are proven effective at preventing HIV infection. Through this partnership, we will work to pioneer a viable and sustainable pathway toward accessible, low-cost, antibody-based products for HIV, which if successful, may also be applied more broadly to innovative monoclonal antibody therapeutics targeting other disease areas," said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO, IAVI.

"We have a proven record of developing and delivering vaccines and pharmaceutical products globally, and we are already applying this expertise in the field of antibody development. I am extremely pleased that Serum Institute and IAVI have joined forces in the fight against HIV with the aim of making cost-effective monoclonal antibodies for HIV, and in the fields of antimicrobial resistance and anti-snake venom. Provided the breadth of our technology, I am confident that we will be able to make positive contributions in these important areas," said Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India. "Monoclonal antibodies are providing significant therapeutic benefit in the treatment of a growing number of serious diseases. However, due to their high cost, the availability of current products is limited to wealthier countries. In light of the demonstrated efficacy of monoclonal antibodies and their future promise as globally relevant tools for disease treatment and prevention, this must change. Serum Institute is committed to developing high quality, affordable, monoclonal antibodies with the potential to treat and prevent HIV and other diseases in India and across the globe."

IAVI and its partners are pursuing the development of optimized versions and combinations of some of the most promising bNAbs as a new HIV prevention approach. This includes working with scientific collaborators to rapidly select and optimize a combination of the most potent antibodies available. The partnership between IAVI and Serum Institute will focus on developing large-scale, low-cost manufacturing processes to produce these optimized antibodies, evaluate them in clinical trials, and, if effective, register and commercialize an antibody-based HIV prevention product globally. IAVI and Serum Institute will simultaneously define a pathway for sustainable access and delivery of these antibodies in developing countries, in collaboration with other stakeholders. The goal for this partnership is to be of broad benefit to the field and to enable the most promising antibodies to be developed in the most promising combinations to maximize chances of success.