The Institut Pasteur honors the memory of Pierre Bergé

The Institut Pasteur would like to pay tribute to the businessman and great philanthropist Pierre Bergé, who was an AIDS activist in the early years of the epidemic.

When HIV was identified in 1983 he immediately joined the fight against the disease. In 1985, he became President of ARCAT-SIDA, the first charity to fund HIV research projects. "Pierre Bergé was among those who in the early days of the AIDS epidemic understood that the scope of the research effort was in need of private fundraising activities and public generosity", explains Dr. Jean-François Chambon, Vice-President of Communications and Fundraising at the Institut Pasteur and medical director of ARCAT from 1989 to 1997.

In 1996, Pierre Bergé became President of Ensemble contre le sida which united artists, activists and researchers, including from the Institut Pasteur. He presided over the charity which became Sidaction in 2004 until his death. For more than 20 years, Sidaction has contributed to the funding of HIV research. To this day, the charity’s contribution is vital to the drive and numerous promises of HIV research at the Institut Pasteur, notably through the funding of positions for young researchers. In addition, since its inception many researchers at the Institut Pasteur have been or are still actively involved in the charity, including Prof. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who has been a board member since 2005: "Pierre Bergé was a man of immense generosity and a true humanist. His unwavering commitment helped to advance the fight against AIDS in the field of research but also in the political arena", stated the researcher and winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008.

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