Release Details

• ABIVAX works with International Aids Society (IAS) to support HIV cure reseeach
• Award commemorates Prof. Mark Wainberg, former President of IAS and ABIVAX Scientific Advisory Board member
• First recipient is Dr. Paradise Madlala, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

PARIS, July 24, 2018, 8:00 a.m. CEST – ABIVAX (Euronext Paris: FR0012333284 – ABVX), a biotechnology company harnessing the immune system to develop a functional cure for HIV, as well as treatments for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and cancer, today announced its commitment to The Research-for-Cure Academy Fellowship Prize annual prize, running for four years, which rewards research for HIV cure projects. The prize will be awarded at the 22^nd IAS Conference (AIDS 2018) on July 24, 2018 in Amsterdam, during the session Oral abstract session track A: Strategies for cure: Pitfalls, possibilities and promise (link) Tuesday 24 July, 16:30 – 18:00.

The Research-for-Cure Academy Fellowship Prize is a collaboration between ABIVAX and the International Aids Society (IAS). As a company pioneering research into a functional HIV cure, ABIVAX is making an initial commitment of $10,000 per year for four years to the award, representing a tribute to the work of former IAS President Prof. Mark Wainberg – who was also a member of the ABIVAX Scientific Advisory Board - in the field of HIV cures.

Prof. Wainberg, who passed away in April 2017, was a leading advocate for giving millions of people with H.I.V. and AIDS greater access to antiretroviral drugs, as well as fostering research in resource-limited settings. He was a member of ABIVAX’s Scientific Advisory Board since the company’s creation in 2013.

“Mark’s groundbreaking scientific work, especially related to resistance to HIV treatment and HIV cure research, combined with his passion and friendship, will remain a source of inspiration and we wish to pay tribute to this through this annual prize,” said Prof. Hartmut Ehrlich, M.D., Chief Executive Officer at ABIVAX. “Not only does this contribution acknowledge the vital accomplishments of Prof. Wainberg, for whom this award is commemorated, but honors those of its first recipient, Dr. Paradise Madlala, whom we are pleased to commend for his important findings relating to HIV transcription and productive infection.”

The Research-for-Cure Academy Fellowship Prize will be awarded each year during a session at the International AIDS (IAS) Conference on HIV Science. The first recipient is Paradise Madlala, researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, whose research interest is in characterization of the HIV-1 LTR promoter, essential in driving viral transcription and productive infection.

Paradise was selected from the pool of 2017 Research-for-Cure Academy participants by its co-chairs: Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Laureate; Prof. Steven Deeks, UCSF; and Prof. Sharon Lewin, The Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne. The selection is based on engagement during the academy, their collaborative spirit demonstrated during the group project work and their continued engagement in the HIV cure field.

Prof. Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne and co-chair of the IAS Towards an HIV Cure initiative said : “As co-chair of the Research-for-Cure Academy I am delighted to see Abivax furthering the impact of the Academies by supporting HIV investigators and clinical scientists in resource-constrained settings to become engaged in HIV cure research.”