On Monday May 11, 2015, UNC-Chapel Hill announced a new partnership with GlaxoSmithKline to create a dedicated HIV cure research center on campus and a jointly owned company, QURA Therapeutics, whose mission is to create a cure for HIV/AIDS. The breakthrough public-private partnership represents a new model for conducting research and will transcend single university departments with the involvement of the School of Medicine and the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. searcHIV’s working group member Dr. David Margolis will serve as the Scientific Director for the new venture.
The new partnership builds on a long history of HIV/AIDS research at UNC and at GSK and will leverage capabilities across academia and GSK to create a cure for HIV/AIDS. GSK will invest $20 million over 5 years to fund the HIV cure research center portfolio. The UNC HIV cure research center will attract amongst the best HIV cure scientists from around the world. While focusing primarily on the search for latency-reversing agents (or the “shock and kill” approach), the HIV cure research center will also integrate other HIV cure research modalities, including immune-boosting strategies.
For More Information:
UNC’s Press Release:
GSK’s Press Release:
Wall Street Journal Article:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/partnership-takes-aim-at-curing-hiv-aids-1431309601
New York Times Article:
