Decades of pharmaceutical innovation and an array of treatment and prevention options mean that many people living with HIV can now expect to live long and full lives.Gone are the days when people diagnosed with HIV had to take so many pills that they needed to set multiple alarm clocks. A daily pill is now most common, but even that paradigm is changing as the industry investigates longer-acting medicines that don’t have to be taken every day.Some of this progress has been reached through direct engagement and collaboration with the HIV community — people who live with the disease and those who treat and support them.&ldquo;No one wants to be talked at — we want to be talked with,&rdquo; says Warren O’Meara-Dates, a US-based HIV community leader and founder of the <a href='https://www.warrendates.com/menu-details' target='_blank'>6:52 Project</a>. &ldquo;We want to be partners in this, because we’re the ones most impacted by the medicines that are provided for our longevity and opportunity for life.&rdquo;

This patient-centred approach is taken by GSK, through ViiV Healthcare, a specialist HIV company of which it owns the majority share. As a pharmaceutical company solely dedicated to HIV, ViiV bases much of its research and development (R&D) strategy on patient perspectives generated by advisory boards, community events and insights from clinical trials.&ldquo;Our mission is that we leave no one with HIV behind. And to do that, we must listen to the voices of people who are living with HIV,&rdquo; says Dr Kimberly Smith, head of R&D at ViiV Healthcare. &ldquo;A powerful example of this is our Positive Perspectives 2 study, one of the largest HIV patient-reported outcomes studies to date, which included nearly 2,400 people from 25 countries.&rdquo;<h2>Turning talk into treatment</h2>The HIV community has advocated for action from the pharmaceutical industry since the early days of the epidemic. With grassroots groups such as ACT UP leading the way, HIV activists and advocates have had great success working towards the shared goals of better medicines and access to testing and treatment.&ldquo;Historically, the HIV community has had a huge impact on how drugs get developed and the acceleration of drug approvals,&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;This is an activist community. They deserve our attention, and we absolutely need to hear what they have to say.&rdquo;O’Meara-Dates has been a key part of the shift towards meaningful conversations as an activist and HIV community advisor to ViiV, as well as a number of public health bodies.&ldquo;For 30 years, without the inclusion of community at this level, the wheel just kept turning,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We weren't getting to the place where we needed to, in part because some communities were left out of initial conversations about what innovations we wanted and needed.&rdquo;

One breakthrough came in response to the community’s calls to lift the burden of daily treatment. Hearing these concerns, ViiV became the first company to develop modern two-drug regimens that can reduce the number of medicines taken over a lifetime. Further community insight has helped progress research that is leading to new options for treatment and prevention.<h2>Research that reflects diversity</h2>This is progress, but there is still room for improvement in clinical trial diversity to ensure individuals from the communities and countries where HIV is growing and more prevalent are included. For example, women account for 52 per cent of the global HIV population, but only 19 per cent of those included in HIV treatment and prevention studies.This has long been a concern for the HIV community. &ldquo;Human beings are diverse — no single regimen will have the same outcome from person to person,&rdquo; says O’Meara-Dates. &ldquo;Including the communities most affected by the development of treatments is an integral part of HIV eradication and prevention.&rdquo;In response to calls for representation, the US Food and Drug Administration is requiring pharmaceutical companies to improve diversity in biomedical research. Independently, many pharmaceutical developers, including ViiV, are setting targets for representative demographics in clinical trials.For GSK and ViiV, their forward progress will leverage insights from a 17-year retrospective study of their US clinical trials, which was recently published in Clinical Trials: Journal of the Society of Clinical Trials.<h2>The road ahead</h2>Empowering the HIV community with more options for treatment and prevention is essential to tackling healthcare inequity. To this end, ViiV’s researchers are now investigating the possibility of ‘ultra-long-acting’ medicines with the hope that they could be taken every three months or longer, as well as self-administered medicines that could be taken at home. Many people living with HIV say this would reduce the emotional toll and stigma of a lifetime of treatment.

&ldquo;ViiV is giving options to folks like me who have had to take several medications every day over many years,&rdquo; says O’Meara-Dates. &ldquo;Having more choices to fit my needs is one thing that helps reduce the feeling of stigma associated with HIV treatment.&rdquo;Steps like these, says Smith, show how pharmaceutical companies can be more &ldquo;open and responsive&rdquo; to the people they seek to help. Finding a cure for HIV is the ultimate goal – but in the meantime, collaboration between the HIV community and pharmaceutical companies can help make HIV a smaller part of people’s lives.&ldquo;We are making strides, particularly with ViiV,&rdquo; O’Meara-Dates says. &ldquo;Many of us have spoken up to say, ‘nothing for us without us’, and pharma is listening. Nothing can truly be helpful if our voices are not part of developing new medicines.&rdquo;

As we age, our immune system weakens. With older people more prone to infection, a friendly handshake or a hug between a grandchild and grandparent could potentially lead to serious consequences.&nbsp;To help protect older populations from these health risks, scientists around the world are laser focused on unearthing medical discoveries that can bolster immune strength.&nbsp;Respiratory infectious diseases are a particular concern for the ageing population. These common infections, such as the ones caused by the flu virus or pneumococcus bacteria, are easily spread and can often lead to serious health complications in the elderly. One of these diseases is caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which leads to an estimated&nbsp;160,000 deaths globally each year,1 and is one of the few major infectious diseases currently without a vaccine for prevention. In fact, solutions for RSV have evaded scientists for generations leaving millions of older adults exposed globally each year.2RSV is just one of the major pathogens on the hit list of GSK&rsquo;s scientists. As one of the leading innovators in the pharmaceutical industry, it has a broad portfolio of vaccine platform technologies and a long heritage in vaccines, dating back to the early 1900s. To date, the company has created vaccines for 23 of the 32 diseases recognised by WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be preventable by vaccination.3,4,5&nbsp;Now, GSK aims to lead a new generation of vaccine development, with its belief that innovation drives disease prevention. It recently acquired Affinivax, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge (Boston, Massachusetts). Phil Dormitzer, GSK&rsquo;s senior vice president and global head of vaccines R&amp;D based in Boston, says: &ldquo;The integration of Affinivax&rsquo;s disruptive technology and scientific talent into GSK, alongside our own scientists, will help us expand our portfolio, with many potential applications against infectious diseases.&rdquo;Global attention on the role of vaccines during the past few years has reshaped public awareness around combating infectious diseases. Rather than being viewed solely as a tool to protect children, vaccines are now also considered a preventative tool in healthcare from infancy through adulthood. &ldquo;The world has a greater and renewed understanding of the value of vaccines, &rdquo; says Dr Jamila Louahed, vice president, vaccines R&amp;D, GSK.6She adds: &rdquo;It&rsquo;s more clear than ever that innovative technologies paired with a deep understanding of life sciences can have a major impact on disease prevention and will help unlock effective vaccines to tackle the world&rsquo;s biggest health challenges.&ldquo;

<h2>Vaccine innovation is an opportunity to impact health around the globe</h2>The global vaccines market is projected to surge from $61bn in 2021 to $125bn in 2028,7 spurred by several new vaccines including those focusing on respiratory infectious diseases, meningococcal meningitis and other pathogens. This acceleration in investment and attention couldn&rsquo;t be timelier. As our healthcare systems expand resources to support people living healthier lives, vaccines are set to become an essential part of healthy living by helping to prevent disease.&nbsp;The number of people aged 60 and above is expected to rise to 2.1bn individuals by 2050, up from 1.4bn in 2030.8 As we get older, our immune strength often begins to fade,9 bringing the threat of more frequent infections and, in some cases, more severe health outcomes.10&nbsp;In the US alone, the annual healthcare costs of treating four vaccine-preventable diseases &ndash; influenza, pertussis, herpes zoster, and pneumococcal disease &ndash; are projected to increase from approximately $35bn to $49bn in the next 30 years.11Vaccines will play a critical role in reducing that burden on healthcare systems.<h2>R&amp;D innovation empowering society to age in a healthier way</h2>Waning strength of the immune system may be an inevitable aspect of getting older, but thanks to breakthroughs in vaccine research and development and the use of disruptive technologies, scientists are identifying new tactics to fight infectious diseases from birth through to adulthood.Uniting vaccine science with new adjuvant technologies is one approach GSK deploys to be at the forefront of vaccine innovation. Adjuvants help boost a body&rsquo;s immune response leading to stronger and longer-lasting immunity, improving protection against infections.The advancement of adjuvants are revolutionising vaccines that target pathogens for which vaccines previously were not effective or available. The successful combination of the right adjuvant and antigen can lead to a faster, more potent, and more durable immune response. This can bring particular benefits to the elderly or immunocompromised, who are vulnerable to infection.&nbsp;Other new technologies have enabled researchers to deliver a host of new benefits &ndash; mRNA vaccines initially developed to combat influenza led to the first licensed mRNA vaccines for Covid-19. Another example of a novel technology that is not yet widely known and has the potential to disrupt the landscape is Multiple Antigen Presenting System (MAPS) platform technology. This technology, key to GSK&rsquo;s Affinivax acquisition, has initially been directed toward preventing pneumococcal disease caused by a number of different strains of the bacteria.<h2>Living well for longer</h2>These leaps forward in vaccine development are granting scientists the tools to target and get ahead of infectious diseases that have previously escaped prevention solutions.The importance of such innovations will only intensify in the years to come. As the global population continues to age and knowledge of infectious diseaseincreases, continued investment and research into vaccine innovation will be essential to helping protect as many people as possible &ndash; from infancy to old age, and with a focus on those most at risk. There is reason to believe a new era for vaccines is upon us and together we can look ahead with hope for longer, healthier lives.

1&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href='http://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv' target='_blank'>www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv&nbsp;</a>2&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href='http://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv' target='_blank'>www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv&nbsp;</a>3 <a href='http://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/diseases' target='_blank'>www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/diseases</a>4 <a href='https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vaccines-list.html' target='_blank'>https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vaccines-list.html</a>5 <a href='https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/vaccine-preventable-diseases' target='_blank'>https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/vaccine-preventable-diseases</a>6 <a href='https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/vaccine-preventable-diseases' target='_blank'>www.gsk.com/en-gb/behind-the-science-magazine/how-adjuvants-boost-our-immune-response/#_edn1</a>7&nbsp;<a href='https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/vaccine-preventable-diseases' target='_blank'>www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/vaccines-market-101769</a>8 <a href='http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health' target='_blank'>www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health</a>9 <a href='http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7270427/' target='_blank'>www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7270427/</a>10 <a href='http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death' target='_blank'>www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death</a>11 <a href='https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32758069/' target='_blank'>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32758069/</a>

Scientists are combining genetic research, patient data and predictive AI technology to find new ways to solve some of medicine&rsquo;s greatest mysteries. At the new Institute of Molecular and Computational Medicine (IMCM) at the University of Oxford&rsquo;s Nuffield Department of Medicine, scientists and clinicians are joining forces with researchers from GSK to improve the speed and development of treatments for complex neurological diseases such as Parkinson&rsquo;s, Alzheimer&rsquo;s and ALS. This approach brings together biopharma researchers and world-class medical institutions to forge a new path in drug discovery.<h2>A key role for the patient&nbsp;</h2>Central to this approach is a crucial third partner: the patient.&nbsp;&ldquo;Technology is allowing us to bring the patient into R&amp;D like never before,&rdquo; says Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer, GSK. &ldquo;Today we can measure the patient experience at many levels: from wearables that track changes in movement to devices that monitor sleep patterns and now even genomics which looks on a cellular level. All that creates a massive amount of data &ndash; GSK generated 20 billion datapoints last year and we have an AI team in-house making sense of that data. And this is all for the purpose of getting ahead of disease, together.&rdquo;&nbsp;Another way to think of it is a totally new research model. &ldquo;Imagine a laboratory for Parkinson's disease with all the pieces finally integrated: one-third of the contribution comes from patients and their families, one third from GSK researchers and another third from Oxford scientists. Patients and their families play a foundational role in the institute and that makes this collaboration and institute unique,&rdquo; says John Todd, Director of the IMCM and Professor of Precision Medicine at the University of Oxford.

<h2>The UK is fertile ground for research</h2>With current medical technologies, the reality is that the complex nature of neurodegenerative diseases is not well understood. That means the search for more effective treatments requires&nbsp;novel&nbsp;ways to identify, describe&nbsp;and interpret the relevance&nbsp;of subtle yet critical differences in a person&rsquo;s genetic and biological make up. Putting the patient at the forefront of R&amp;D will deepen our understanding of disease sub-types and enable us to target treatments more precisely, increasing the probability of success.Enter the UK which is known for its robust life sciences ecosystem and longstanding investments in genetics and genomics that serve as an accelerator for research. GSK complements this with a number of genetically informed drug targets and insights generated from collaborations such as 23andMe, UK Biobank &ndash; and more to come from a new UK initiative called Our Future Health. Approximately 70% of GSK targets in research are genetically validated, and published scientific research shows that genetically validated targets are at least twice as likely to become medicines.

<h2>Tech drives better predictions</h2>Technology is the glue that brings these puzzle pieces together. By using AI models to search for connections across available patient data sets, scientists can unravel layers of information about the building blocks of disease and discover how to combat it early on.This begins with identifying genetic factors which raise the probability that an individual will develop a disease and then building on those clues to determine whether, when and how their disease will progress.&nbsp;These early indicators or predictors of disease help to accelerate drug discovery and development, explains Victoria Higgins, GSK&rsquo;s Senior Director of UK Academic Alliance Management. &ldquo;We have a wealth of disparate data&mdash;from the patients&rsquo; medical history to their DNA and biological samples. If we apply machine learning, we can define patterns to help us to distinguish subtle differences between patient groups.&rdquo;&nbsp;Researchers looking into those groups can identify chemical or molecular signals that indicate how the disease develops and progresses. These techniques enable scientists to match potential drug targets with those groups of patients most likely to respond to treatment. By understanding disease more deeply, researchers can prioritise the most promising leads. They can establish proof of concept much earlier in the R&amp;D process and reach conclusions in fewer steps, using AI to check data and fill in the gaps.

&nbsp;&ldquo;It's about applying these new technologies to identify how disease signatures vary between patients so we can select which patient is more likely to respond to treatment &mdash; so-called precision medicine, get earlier reads on clinical trials and get that medicine out quicker&rdquo;&nbsp;says Higgins.The implications for patient care are significant &mdash; particularly in cases of serious neurodegenerative diseases with patients who often wait years for a definitive diagnosis, by which point their condition may have deteriorated.<h2>More than the sum of its parts</h2>The IMCM recently announced its first research projects focused on Alzheimer&rsquo;s, Parkinson&rsquo;s and ALS.&ldquo;There's never been a time when the ability to bring a range of technologies together with science has been as advanced as it is right now,&rdquo; says Tony Wood. &ldquo;We realised that there was an opportunity to bring it all together to be more ambitious, to be more integrated, and give ourselves an opportunity to really make a difference more quickly. So now we have GSK scientists working side by side with University of Oxford scientists, geneticists and computational biologists &mdash; different disciplines working together to think differently about science, tech and talent so we can get ahead of disease.&rdquo;

<h2>The pharma and biomedical sectors turn to data</h2>In spring 2022, Longitude, a Financial Times company, surveyed 300 academics, biomedical and pharmaceutical executives in the UK and US to better understand the landscape of research and development in the sector.

say AI modelling techniques are key to meeting R&D goals, ranking this among the most important factors for successful research.

stress the importance of access to a wide range of digital health data, which suggests that genetic databases may become even more valuable

agree with the importance of having access to patient-driven data early in the process, underscoring the vital role of patient contributions to research.

Future of medicine: Tech. Partners. Breakthroughs.