South African researchers developing a potential HIV vaccine have been forced to halt their work after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze foreign aid funding, including support for the USAID-backed BRILLIANT project.
Nozipho Mlotshwa, a lab technician at Wits University’s Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, was awaiting test results when the order came to stop work. The team had produced promising results in rabbits and was preparing to test improved vaccine formulations. Now, those samples remain frozen and untouched.
Another HIV vaccine candidate, set for human trials in South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, has also been shelved.
Impact of U.S. Aid Freeze
Trump’s 90-day pause on foreign aid, part of his “America First” policy, has stalled projects worldwide, from crop protection to HIV research and disease outbreak response. The freeze has also delayed shipments of life-saving HIV drugs and disaster relief efforts.
Trump has further cut all U.S. funding to South Africa, citing its land reform policy and its genocide case against Israel.
HIV Vaccine: A ‘Holy Grail’ Now on Hold
The BRILLIANT project, a South Africa-led initiative using mRNA technology, aimed to create a locally developed HIV vaccine. The research focused on rare antibodies found in two South African HIV patients that naturally neutralize the virus.
“This was a huge opportunity. Now, it’s all wiped away,” said Nigel Garrett, Chief Scientific Officer at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation.
With 8 million people living with HIV, South Africa has led many groundbreaking studies that have benefited the world, said Ntobeko Ntusi, CEO of the South African Medical Research Council.
However, with U.S. funding unlikely to resume, scientists now face a major funding gap that may stall HIV vaccine progress for years.
