Experimental aids vaccine now in production

(PhysOrg.com) -- The advance towards a vaccine for HIV/AIDS has taken another step closer to realization. A vaccine, developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario, and licensed to Sumagen Canada Inc., has now been manufactured for use in trials - first, in toxicology trials using animal models and then in Phase 1 human clinical trials.
The vaccine has been manufactured at a bio-safety level 3 (BSL3) good manufacturing practice (GMP) facility in the United States.

“It has been very difficult to manufacture our genetically engineered HIV-1 experimental vaccine, because there are only a few BSL3 GMP contract manufacturing organizations (CMO) available in the world. For this reason, we welcome the Canadian Government’s plan to establish a BSL3 GMP facility in Canada for future manufacture of candidate HIV/AIDS vaccines. We have overcome a major hurdle in the development of our HIV/AIDS vaccine which is now ready for clinical trials,” said Dr. Dong Joon Kim, CEO of Sumagen.

The toxicology trials will get under way in a matter of days at a contract research organization (CRO) in the U.S., and results should be ready in approximately three months. The Phase 1 human clinical trials could begin in early spring at a number of trial sites in North America.

Kang's vaccine uses a killed whole HIV-1, much like Salk's killed whole poliovirus vaccine. The HIV-1 is genetically engineered in such a way that it is non-pathogenic and can be produced in large quantities. It is then purified, inactivated, and injected as a safe whole killed-virus vaccine.

While Phase 1 human clinical trials are most often conducted on healthy volunteers, in the case of this HIV/AIDS vaccine, it will be tested on individuals who are HIV-positive, but not yet symptomatic with AIDS.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981 and approximately 35 million people live with HIV infection world-wide today.

Sumagen Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of Curocom of Korea. The company is fully funding Dr. Kang’s continuing work on the HIV/AIDS vaccine development.

Provided by University of Western Ontario

Citation: Experimental aids vaccine now in production (2008, November 12) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2008-11-experimental-aids-vaccine-production.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Review highlights the challenges and recent advances in targeted therapies for lupus nephritis

 shares

Feedback to editors