Patient undergoing an HIV test The first and only preventative HIV/AIDS vaccine has shown no side effects so far in human clinical trials, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday. The vaccine, SAV001-H, was developed by researchers at the University of Western Ontario in Canada and supported by Sumagen Canada, a company that manages and supports clinical development of the vaccine.
SAV001-H is the only HIV vaccine currently under development in the country, and one of only a few in the world.
The researchers hoped the progress could pave the way for success in the final phases of clinical testing, which might finally lead to the first commercialised HIV vaccine.
The first human who applied clinical study to evaluate the vaccine's safety and tolerability was initiated in March in the United States after receiving approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Infected men and women aging from 18 to 50 have been enrolled in this study and randomised into two treatment groups to test the vaccine.
The researchers announced that there had been no adverse effects observed after SAV001-H injection in all enrolled patients to date and the interim data had showed significant increase in the HIV-1 antibody formations in some patients.
With the current results, the researchers are confident of the safety of SAV001-H and the potency of inducing immune responses in human trials, while preparing to take steps towards next phases of the clinical trials.
HIV/AIDS has killed more than 28 million people worldwide and over 34 million people currently live with the virus infection. Despite numerous trials around the world to develop vaccines, no vaccine has been commercialised to date.