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Gyft to Donate 100% of Profits in December to HIV Research
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO – A new partnership announced today between Gyft and Immunity Project will enable anyone buying a gift card this December to support revolutionary vaccine research that has the potential to bring an end to HIV/AIDS.
Gyft is a digital platform that allows you to purchase and manage gift cards for over 200 retailers online or via your mobile device, such as Target, Gap, and Amazon. Gyft launched a points program last week, which allows you to seamlessly earn up to 3% back for all gift card purchases while supporting a great cause.
Immunity Project is a team of scientists and entrepreneurs who are developing a revolutionary vaccine platform using an entirely novel approach: to adopt the unique targeting capability inherent in HIV controllers to give everyone that same immunity to HIV/AIDS.
HIV controllers are miraculous: they are people who have a natural immunity to HIV. Although controllers carry low levels of HIV, the virus is in a dormant state and they do not contract AIDS.
“We are thrilled to harness the power of our 21st-century approach to buying and managing gift cards to support a similarly revolutionary approach to ending AIDS,” said CJ MacDonald, co-founder and chief operating officer of Gyft. “In the spirit of World AIDS Day and the holiday season, our message to customers is simple – if you are a planning on buying gift cards in December, you have no excuse not to do it through Gyft and support an effort that could solve one of society’s most vexing problems – ending AIDS.”
“Our vaccine is ready to be tested in people now, but we need your help to make that happen,” said Dr. Reid Rubsamen, founder and chief executive officer of Immunity Project. “One of the easiest ways you can help is to just buy your gift cards this holiday season through Gyft.”
The Gyft/Immunity Project partnership will start on December 1, 2013 (World AIDS Day) and run through December 31, 2013. Any proceeds from gift cards purchased during the month of December will be donated to Immunity Project. The goal is to raise $1 million for the Immunity Project team so they can advance their research in 2014.
About Gyft
Gyft provides a digital gift card platform that enables consumers to upload, buy, send, and redeem gift cards from their phone. Users can instantly purchase gift cards for themselves or send them to friends and can choose from hundreds of popular retailers including Sephora, Gap, and Target. Gyft has made it easy for users to never have to worry about losing or forgetting to carry around another plastic gift card again by allowing them to upload their physical cards to Gyft. After users upload their cards to Gyft, they can redeem in-store or online instantly. They can also track their balances and safely store their card information within the app. Co-founder Vinny Lingham is from South Africa and is passionate about addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in his home country and worldwide. For more, visit http://www.gyft.com
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About Immunity Project
Immunity Project aims to adopt the unique targeting capability inherent in HIV controllers to give everyone that same immunity to HIV. Immunity Project will offer the HIV vaccine to the world for free.
To develop the vaccine, a machine-learning algorithm – similar to what is used in the most advanced spam filtering software – was developed to identify the Achilles heel biological markers on the HIV virus. The vaccine formulation consists of the Achilles heel biological markers and clinically tested chemicals that cause an immune system response. The Project’s proprietary formulation enables the vaccine prototype to be stored in inert powder form, delivered to patients through a nasal inhaler, and stored without refrigeration. The Immunity Project vaccine is the first to be developed that doesn’t contain any living or non-living virus, giving it the potential to be among the safest vaccines ever developed.
The Immunity Project HIV vaccine prototype has yielded positive results in animals and is now ready for Phase I Human Trials.
For more, visit http://www.immunityproject.org.