Publicprivate partnerships in HIV vaccine trials as a contribution to the Brazilian response to the AIDS epidemic

Developing countries, Brazil included, have long struggled not only with creating a strong knowledge base but also, and more importantly, with making such a knowledge base relevant to solve local problems. This article focuses on the Brazilian response to the AIDS epidemic. The case exemplifies that it is possible to articulate a multitude of social actors government, the R&D system, the manufacturing sector and the broader society to create an innovative, knowledge-based approach to a social problem. Key to the success was the fact that Brazil took ownership of its AIDS problem from the beginning and the strong commitment of all parties to the agreed strategies. Taking this context into account, the article looks at the Brazilian participation in publicprivate partnerships for HIV vaccine trials. It argues that the country prepared itself in terms of research capacity, institutional infrastructure and guidelines prior to engaging in vaccine trials partnerships. For this reason, the capacity gained by participating in international partnerships adds to the already existent knowledge and skills base, which, in turn, is ready to absorb the new knowledge.