The present invention relates to a gp41 trivalent peptide mimetic having three gp41 N-peptides on a chemical scaffold which conformationally constrains the N-peptides into a trimeric coiled-coil to mimic gp41 presentation. The present invention also relates to N-peptides having the entire HIV gp41 NH2-terminal heptad repeat region and which are capable of forming gp41 peptide mimetics. Such peptide mimetics of HIV-1 gp41 pre-hairpin intermediates can be utilized in a vaccine for the treatment or prevention of HIV-1 infection through eliciting neutralizing antibodies.
