After Zika and Ebola, Quebec doctor sets his sights on HIV vaccine
Gary Kobinger and research team are compiling data needed before human trials can be approved
When the Ebola virus was devastating communities in West Africa in 2014, a Quebec City doctor and his team of researchers at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg were furiously working to develop a first effective vaccine.
Gary Kobinger, who returned to Quebec in 2016, has also made significant breakthroughs in the development of a vaccine against the Zika virus. Now, he is setting his sights on another devastating virus.
Kobinger, who is currently director of the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases at Laval University, received a $4 million grant this summer to develop a vaccine against HIV.
He spoke about the work with Quebec AM host Susan Campbell.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
The HIV vaccine has seemed to be a Holy Grail for HIV researchers for so long. Where are we right now?
After about 35 years the field has progressed a lot. There is one vaccine after multiple doses that has seen some successes. It's called the Thai trial. And it leads to about 30 per cent efficacy in a large scale human trial. Obviously 30 per cent is not sufficient to have a real impact on the spread of the disease worldwide.
But it is really the clear demonstration that it is possible to be protected against HIV. It's a very challenging task to develop the vaccine against HIV because of the changing nature of this virus. In one individual you can have tens of thousands of versions of the same HIV.
Does your work on Ebola make you more hopeful or more realistic when it comes to attacking this next project?
I think it makes me a bit more daring on one side, but also a bit more realistic in terms of what needs to be in place at the end of that journey.
These three years are to assembly enough data to submit a protocol to Health Canada and the FDA, so what we call pre-clinical data. We need in three years to get the best vaccine available right now and in the world and submit the best data for a human trial. And that's the goal.
Is there a lack of urgency that might inhibit, here in North America at least, in some way research or funding of research?
We're hoping not. This is the proof that it's an existing problem, this funding. Yes in Canada, people can have access to triple therapy, which is great.
That being said, worldwide this is a minority of people and so the importance of stopping the spread of this virus is still as present as it used to be. What Ebola brought on the table, is this urgency forced people to see that they needed to work together quickly to address problems and questions and make projects move forward very quickly and this was unprecedented.
With HIV, this sense of urgency doesn't exist right now. If we can get a very viable and promising product and vaccine and have this accepted by regulatory agencies then I think people will really realize that we need to have the same thing — to work together and get this out quickly — because the majority of people who live with HIV do not have access to triple therapy.
As a scientist do you have any role that you can play at the other end of the process when there is an effective vaccine and do you have a voice in ensuring that vaccine gets to all of the people who need it?
More than a voice, I think we have the responsibility. This is one thing that I learned is to make sure that the vaccine we develop is going to be accessible, not only the majority, but by everybody that needs it.
If we develop a technology that is too expensive at the end it's not going to be realistic. All of this already in the development phase can be taken into account, but also in the way the vaccine is then passed on to the industry because they are an essential player. The scientist can have an opinion and influence that process.
Ebola was huge, Zika was huge, HIV is enormous. What keeps you going ?
You know here in Quebec it's to help the young scientists realize their dreams. Now I've built this phenomenal team of young scientists that are so enthusiastic. Getting to work in the morning, every day makes me happy to see the drive that they have. HIV is an old dream actually. My first to tackle. I think at the time it was impossible we didn't have the tools, so now I think we do. I hope I'm right. We'll see.
with files from Quebec AM and Alison Brunette