ViiV Healthcare pledged $100 million on Thursday to local HIV organizations through its U.S. Positive Action program, with the money running from 2027 to 2029. Applications for the next round of ViiV Positive Action grants “are expected to open in early 2027,” the company said.
“Community organizations know where barriers to accessing treatment and prevention services exist and what it takes to remove them,” said Cecilia Kihara, ViiV’s director of external affairs giving.
ViiV, the HIV drugmaker majority owned by GSK, saw sales of Apretude, its PrEP shot given every two months, rise 21% in the third quarter, Gayety reported Oct. 30. “For nearly 30 years, our U.S. Positive Action program has shown us that breakthroughs in HIV science have the greatest impact when they are matched by strong, community-led solutions,” Randevyn Piérre, ViiV’s head of U.S. external affairs, said in the announcement.
From 2020 through 2026, the release says, ViiV gave more than $185 million to over 470 community groups in 215 U.S. communities, Puerto Rico included. “By bringing together scientific innovation and sustained investment in communities, we can help accelerate progress towards ending the HIV epidemic,” Piérre said.
The first of three new funding streams, Long-Term Support for Local HIV Service Delivery, offers multiyear money to keep HIV prevention and treatment groups running. The second, called Systems-Level Partnerships, reads: “Partner with trusted intermediaries to scale community-driven solutions.” The third, Rapid-Response Resources, promises “Flexible, responsive funding that addresses emerging critical access gaps.”
“This funding will put sustained and flexible resources behind solutions shaped by community experience, helping organizations reach people most impacted by HIV and connect them with the care and support they need,” Kihara said.
How to Apply for ViiV Positive Action Grants in 2027
ViiV hasn’t published eligibility rules for the 2027 round. “Funding applications for the next round of U.S. Positive Action community giving are expected to open in early 2027,” its grants page says, and questions go to [email protected]. (Grant writers, mark the calendar.)
ViiV’s 2024 request for proposals listed this as its first eligibility rule: “Be a 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-designated non-profit organization.” Groups could also apply through a fiscal sponsor. That round offered “Project support (maximum $250,000 per year),” put no cap on general operating grants and let groups ask for one or three years of money.
ViiV’s share couldn’t top 25% of a group’s annual revenue. “Most proposals will be notified of a decision within six months of proposal submission,” the document said.
It also listed the “key populations” ViiV wanted to reach, including “Black men (gay, bisexual, queer, and trans)” and “Latinx men (gay, bisexual, queer, and trans).”
From NMAC Fellows to Equality California: Who ViiV Has Funded
ViiV said Sept. 15 that it had given more than $33 million in U.S. community grants in 2026, to 230 groups in 110 cities. “At a critical moment for the U.S. HIV response, community organizations are navigating many real pressures while continuing to provide essential services,” Jean-Bernard Simeon, head of ViiV’s U.S. business, said in that release.
The one grantee it named was NMAC, once called the National Minority AIDS Council, for its NextGen Emerging Leaders Fellowship, which trains 18- to 25-year-olds for HIV work. “Building a stronger HIV response means making sure the next generation has the skills, experience, and opportunity to lead,” said Harold J. Phillips, NMAC’s chief executive and a former director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.
A 2023 ViiV roster of AMP grant leads and micro-grantees runs from Equality California to the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus. Houston’s Texas Pride Impact Funds is listed for “Fueling Black and Latinx transgender and MSM linkage, outreach and advocacy.”
65% of 2024 HIV Diagnoses Attributed to Sex Between Men
The Nov. 5 announcement doesn’t single out any group, and it aims the money at “communities most impacted by HIV.” The CDC counted 38,793 HIV diagnoses in 2024, and “65% (25,129) of HIV diagnoses were attributed to MMSC,” or male-to-male sexual contact, the agency reported in May.
Latino men made up 36% of new diagnoses among gay and bisexual men in 2022, and Black men 34%, according to the CDC’s fact sheet on gay and bisexual men. “Gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 34 made up most new HIV diagnoses among all gay and bisexual men,” it says.
CDC Stopped Funding 96 HIV Groups Directly in September
ViiV’s release doesn’t mention federal money. It lands five weeks after nearly 100 community groups lost their direct CDC grants for HIV prevention at the end of September, Stateline reported, a change Gayety covered in July. “CDC remains committed to supporting HIV prevention efforts nationwide, including the critical work of community-based organizations,” HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard said in a statement, Government Executive reported at the time.
The White House budget office told the CDC it wouldn’t renew $46 million for the 96 groups, Roll Call reported, and the CDC is shifting resources to state and local health departments instead. “Sometimes the states are a barrier, and others they’re not,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said, according to Roll Call.
Stateline reported that health departments in the hardest-hit areas are encouraged, not required, to pass at least 25% of the money to community groups. “As we have already seen too many times in the past year, when we lose critical CDC funding and infrastructure, we see more illness and associated healthcare costs in our communities,” said Jeremiah Johnson, executive director of PrEP4All, according to Government Executive.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a 2027 health spending bill 34 to 28 on June 9. The bill “continues assault on HIV programs,” the HIV Medicine Association said, and would eliminate the CDC’s domestic HIV prevention program, which got $755.6 million in fiscal 2026.
The full House hasn’t voted on that bill. “The Senate Appropriations Committee has not marked up its version” of the bill, the Congressional Research Service said Sept. 8.
For now, the “Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027” keeps federal agencies funded through Dec. 11, the White House said when President Donald Trump signed it Sept. 2. The lame-duck session that has to deal with that deadline starts next week, STAT reported Nov. 4.
Disclosure: ViiV Healthcare advertises on Gayety.
