NIH Extends Collaboration for HIV Diagnostics

Human immunosuppressive virus (HIV) diagnostics are important to maintaining the safety of the blood supply through donor screening and by providing early diagnosis and monitoring of HIV infection so that patients may benefit from early treatment regimens.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD, USA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Institut Pasteur (IP; Paris, France), a private non-profit foundation, announced an agreement to extend their long-standing collaboration in health research and the management of inventions arising from this research. These two institutions have been leaders and collaborators in the field of HIV/AIDS research for more than 20 years. The extended agreement will initially facilitate the patenting and licensing of a large portfolio of intellectual property held by NIH and IP in the field of HIV-1 diagnostics. Additional long-term public health benefits are expected as the agreement provides a new framework for further support and encouragement of collaborative research in a variety of areas by leading scientists at both the NIH and IP.

To date, effective HIV-1 diagnostic test kits based upon technology licensed from IP and NIH has been distributed worldwide by many companies, saving millions of lives. As the science of understanding the HIV-1 virus has progressed, new technologies arising from the laboratories of IP and NIH and subsequently developed by diagnostics companies now allow these tests to be provided with increased sensitivity and specificity but at a lower cost.

According to the latest figures published an estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there are some indications that infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Institut Pasteur is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diseases through research, education, and public health activities. A large part of Institut Pasteur's research activities is devoted to infectious diseases with important efforts on AIDS research.


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U.S. National Institutes of Health
Institut Pasteur