Canadian government scraps $88 million AIDS-vaccine project

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Three years less a day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood beside Bill Gates and pledged $111-million toward the search for an AIDS vaccine, the federal government has officially cancelled the centrepiece project of that partnership, saying a manufacturing plant is no longer needed and Canadian researchers were not up to the job anyway.

... Even though Ottawa is giving two reasons for its about-face, the unsuccessful bidders are still demanding answers.

“This just raises more questions,” said Ted Hewitt, vice-president of research at the University of Western Ontario, one of four finalists.

... Winnipeg MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis pointed out that the generic-drug industry was involved in the ICID proposal, and asked what role larger pharmaceutical companies played in the government's decision.

... But Prof. Hewitt said he was told the government made the final call. “We were told the decision was made by a committee of bureaucrats – that's a quote – and approved by the minister,” he said.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-scraps-88-million-aids-vaccine-project/article1475234/