Innovations and Challenges in HIV: Prevention and Cure
Overview
World AIDS Day 2025 was marked by a high-level joint webinar titled Innovations and Challenges in HIV: Prevention and Cure, bringing together leading international experts to examine recent scientific advances shaping the future of HIV prevention and cure, while addressing the challenges of translating innovation into equitable global impact.
The virtual webinar, held on 17 December 2025, attracted more than 400 participants from diverse regions and professional backgrounds, reflecting sustained global interest in HIV cure science, next-generation prevention tools, and implementation strategies across health systems.
Programme highlights
The programme featured two keynote scientific presentations, expert moderation, and a highly interactive panel discussion. Contributions highlighted both scientific progress and real-world implementation considerations.
HIV cure research
Prof. Sharon Lewin presented a comprehensive overview of HIV cure research, focusing on strategies for durable viral remission or complete eradication. The talk covered immunotherapeutic approaches such as broadly neutralising antibodies, immune checkpoint blockade, and combination strategies that have shown post-treatment viral control in early-phase clinical studies.
She also discussed advances in reducing the viral reservoir, including latency reversal agents and HIV-specific targeting strategies, as well as gene-based therapies like CRISPR-Cas9 editing and vector-mediated antibody delivery. Despite major progress, challenges remain around safety, delivery, scalability, and global access.
HIV prevention landscape
Prof. David Lewis provided an in-depth overview of evolving HIV prevention, with emphasis on long-acting biomedical interventions designed to overcome adherence challenges of daily oral prophylaxis. Evidence from major clinical trials on long-acting injectables such as cabotegravir and lenacapavir was presented, alongside data on vaginal rings and the potential preventive role of broadly neutralising antibodies.
Emerging long-duration drug delivery technologies, including implants and ultra-long-acting formulations, were also reviewed. Key implementation challenges include affordability, health-system capacity, resistance monitoring, and equitable access, particularly in high-burden and resource-limited settings.
Moderation and discussion
Expert moderation by Prof. David Lye and Prof. Eskild Petersen guided a dynamic discussion linking scientific advances with clinical, programmatic, and policy considerations. Audience questions focused on feasibility of long-acting prevention strategies, resistance risks, regulatory timelines, and implementation pathways across diverse epidemiological contexts.
The interactive exchange underscored the importance of multidisciplinary dialogue in advancing effective and equitable HIV responses.
Speaker biographies
Professor Sharon Lewin
Director, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Australia. Prof. Lewin is an internationally recognised infectious diseases physician-scientist and global leader in HIV cure research. She directs the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics and holds a Melbourne Laureate Professorship at the University of Melbourne.
Professor David Lewis
Director, Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre | University of Sydney / University of Cape Town. His research interests include biomedical HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infections, and antimicrobial resistance, with extensive contributions to WHO guideline development and international HIV and STI initiatives.
Professor David Lye
Senior infectious diseases clinician-scientist and Group Director (Research) at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, focusing on emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and epidemic preparedness.
Professor Eskild Petersen
Professor of Infectious Diseases at Aarhus University, Denmark, with extensive experience in global health, emerging infections, and clinical research. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID).
Participant engagement and feedback
Participant feedback showed exceptionally strong engagement and satisfaction. The webinar was described as informative, insightful, and scientifically rigorous, with particular appreciation for the clarity of presentations and relevance to clinical and public health practice.
There was strong interest in future ISAC/ISID educational activities, especially on diagnostics, prevention strategies, and implementation challenges, highlighting ongoing demand for high-quality, expert-led dialogue on HIV innovation.
The on-demand recording of the webinar is available on the ISAC-Academy World platform.
Watch Here