Groote Schuur Hospital, site of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, launched its first-ever human HIV vaccine trial, known as BRILLIANT 011. It started with around 20 healthy, HIV-negative volunteers recruited locally. – Sunday Times (1 Feb 2026)
The programme is led by the SA Research Council (SARC) alongside the Wits Health Consortium. The work is part of the BRILLIANT Consortium, which is designed to strengthen vaccine innovation and trial capacity across the continent.
“For health leaders, the business relevance is direct. A credible vaccine pathway would reshape long-term prevention budgets. It would also reduce dependence on lifelong treatment and repeated prevention purchases.”