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The Donald Trump administration is ending funding for several key HIV vaccine research programs, according to CBS News.

Researchers were informed that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has decided to focus on existing HIV prevention methods rather than continuing to invest in vaccine development, the broadcaster reported on Friday.

The move affects prominent research centers, including the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Scripps Research Institute, both of which received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding since 2012.

A spokesperson for Moderna confirmed that clinical trials supported by the NIH’s HIV Vaccine Trials Network have also been paused.

According to a senior NIH official, the agency was directed by HHS not to approve new funding for HIV vaccine research in the upcoming fiscal year, except for a few limited cases. Additionally, a new budget accounting rule targeting HIV vaccine grants will make it harder for these projects to secure funding by counting the full cost of multi-year grants within a single fiscal year.

HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard defended the cuts, citing the complexity and overlap of HIV/AIDS programs. She said the agency aims to maximize the impact of federal spending and ensure oversight, noting that 27 separate HIV/AIDS programs have spent $7.5 billion.

Hilliard added that “critical HIV/AIDS programs will continue” under a new agency proposed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., called the Administration for a Healthy America.

However, Dennis Burton, an immunology professor at Scripps Research, called the timing "terrible," noting promising progress in ongoing clinical trials.

"This is a setback of probably a decade for HIV vaccine research," Burton said.

According to HIV.gov, the US government's primary online resource for HIV information, there is currently no vaccine available to prevent the infection. However, scientists worldwide, with support from the National Institutes of Health, are working to develop one.