Many researchers have tried and failed to create an HIV vaccination but researchers from the University of Western Ontario have been working on a vaccine, dubbed SAV001 that takes a different approach. Developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team over the last ten years, this vaccine uses the whole HIV virus that has been genetically engineered to be non-pathogenic. The idea is that the vaccine will prime the body’s T-cells to destroy any cells that might become infected with HIV. This vaccine has been shown to stimulate a strong immune response in preliminary animal toxicology tests but it will be several years before researchers will know whether it is effective in humans. The research team announced that they have received approval from regulators with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin testing the experimental vaccine on humans. The Phase I clinical trial will involve 40 volunteers with HIV to test the safety of the vaccine. If reported to be safe, the next phases of study would test whether the vaccine is actually effective. The vaccine was developed with support from Sumagen Canada, a biotech company established in 2008 specifically to support clinical development of Kang’s vaccine.
