The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI): is it getting new science and technology to the world's neglected majority?

Product based public-private partnerships (PPPs), of which the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is one, are being developed to try and bridge the gap between scientific and technological potential and the needs of developing countries. First, this paper examines PPP's popularity. Second, we describe key characteristics of IAVI and explain why it differs from more traditional partnerships. Third, IAVI has had some success in bringing new science and technology closer to the world's poor and we look at how it has achieved this success and implications for theoretical and practical approaches to science and technology capacity building.