An HIV vaccine that’s been tested in monkeys will soon be used in human trials.
“We started our research on HIV and AIDS 20 years ago, and over the last 10 years, we have developed a vaccine,” said Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, of the University of Western Ontario, who developed the immunization. “The vaccine is a prophylactic vaccine, which is a preventative vaccine.”
Dr. Kang said his vaccine employs the same principle of prevention as flu and rabies shots, and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its use in human trials.
“We need about 6,000 people to test to have statistically significant data, so we can compare a vaccinated and nonvaccinated group to see how effective this vaccine is for prevention of HIV infection,” Kang said.
The trials will last five years and include three phases. Each of the 6,000 volunteers will be injected with the vaccine that contains a genetically modified HIV virus that’s been killed. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.