Trump Ends $258m HIV Vaccine Program, Sparking Global Concern

The Trump administration has abruptly terminated a $258 million HIV research initiative seen as critical in the decades-long effort to develop a vaccine, drawing widespread alarm from scientists and global health advocates.

Leaders of the now-defunct program—based at Duke University and the Scripps Research Institute—were informed Friday by officials from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that their funding had been cut. The decision marks the latest in a string of rollbacks targeting HIV-related research and prevention efforts under President Trump’s second term.

The two research teams had collaborated with numerous institutions to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies—considered a promising avenue toward long-term protection against HIV. Their work also held implications for other diseases, including COVID-19, autoimmune disorders, and even snakebite antivenoms.

A senior NIH official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the program’s review “did not support it moving forward,” and said the agency would now prioritize “available approaches to eliminate HIV/AIDS.”

Experts warn the decision could unravel years of progress. “It’s just inconceivable how shortsighted this is,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of HIV prevention group AVAC. “Almost everything in the field is hinged on work that those two programs are doing. The pipeline just got clogged.”

In recent months, the Trump administration has also paused a clinical trial of Moderna’s HIV vaccine and slashed funding for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) programs, which use daily medication to prevent infection. The HIV prevention division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also been dissolved, raising further uncertainty.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not responded to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, states like Texas and North Carolina have begun pausing HIV prevention efforts or laying off health workers, citing lack of federal support. Globally, countries dependent on U.S. assistance, particularly in Africa, are already reporting disruptions.

In January, the administration suspended funding from the $7.5 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a major supplier of HIV treatment worldwide. Though treatment resumed after diplomatic pressure, prevention funds have not been restored.

Despite repeated setbacks in the search for an HIV vaccine, researchers had hoped advances made by the Scripps and Duke teams could lead to breakthroughs. Their seven-year grants, awarded in 2019, were due to support a generation of clinical trials. Now, those efforts may stall entirely.

“The HIV pandemic will never be ended without a vaccine,” said John Moore, an HIV expert at Weill Cornell Medical. “So killing research on one will end up killing people.”