ISRAEL TO TENDER FOR POTENTIAL AIDS VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

Israel's Ministry of Finance has begun the tender process to find a scientific institution to lead the country's efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine. An eventual product would be based on an API discovered by a team from Israel's Ministry of Agriculture Veterinary Institute.

Tests conducted on animals have shown that the compound protects cells against penetration by the AIDS virus. The team filed patents for the API in Israel a year ago, and has recently filed patents in the US.

The Israeli government owns the rights to the API, and should complete the tender on October 6. However, whether the molecule will lead to a vaccine is uncertain, especially given the multitude of rival projects currently underway elsewhere.