The entire vaccine-producing system is pretty screwed. It's what happens when you centralize the process. All vaccine-development funding comes, really, from two sources - the government, and pharmaceutical companies. And both those entities are in bed with one another.

This is a very telling quote:

The International AIDS Vaccines Initiative, a not-for-profit group that is pushing for an AIDS vaccine, said there are more than 30 vaccine candidates being tested mostly on a small scale in 19 counties, but it acknowledges many are pursuing a similar theory of science that may prove futile.

"If the hypothesis is proven incorrect, the pipeline of candidates now in trials will be rendered mostly irrelevant. Strong alternative hypotheses have been largely neglected," the group said.
What incentive is there to pursue an alternative hypothesis? None. The pharmaceuticals won't fund alternative hypotheses, and government bodies that hand out grants and research funds decide upon a single hypothesis they think is most valid and only support those.

So we have all our eggs in one basket, and if there's no promise in it, everyone's left hanging.

The best hope for an HIV vaccine lies with individual, original-thinking scientists working on their own, in their own laboratories, pursuing avenues through their own genius and knowledge and not from pressure from their funding sources. Even university laboratories are in the pockets of government and pharmaceuticals. Because, again, those 2 sources are the only places any funding comes from. The system that exists with regards to science and research doesn't allow for those individual, unorthodox scientists to be heard, though. And it certainly doesn't allow for them to be funded or published or carry their experiments through to conclusion.

There is no more independent scientific community. And it's a helluva lot easier for researchers to take the easy road and tow the line with guaranteed funding than think outside the box, be original, be unorthodox, and pursue alternative hypotheses when their funding gets yanked out from underneath them if they even try any of that.