CP: Canada, Gates Foundation scrap HIV vaccine plant

TORONTO — The federal government and the Gates Foundation have agreed not to proceed with plans to fund construction in Canada of a facility to make pilot lots of experimental HIV vaccines, sources have told The Canadian Press.

Several sources said that portion of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative will not proceed at this time, but the two parties are committed to finding other ways to collaborate in the as-yet elusive quest for an HIV vaccine.

The project, first announced in February 2007, was to cost nearly $90 million, with $28 million of that coming from the Gates Foundation. It was part of the larger Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, a project for which Canada had earmarked $111 million.

Confusion has surrounded the future of the proposed vaccine production facility since late last week, when four short-listed groups were notified they were not successful in their bids. A statement announcing that the project would not go ahead was briefly posted on the Public Health Agency of Canada's website, but was quickly pulled down.

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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100128/Canada_HIV_100128/20100128?hub=Health

That was the entire point.