A Vaccine For HIV? Clinical Trial Successful

A vaccine to prevent HIV has aced clinical testing, according to Canadian researchers.

The team, from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, says the first phase of testing not only succeeded, but boosted the production of antibodies in patients it was tested on.

SAV001, one of only a handful of HIV vaccines in the world, is based on a genetically-modified 'dead' version of the virus.

“We infect the cells with a genetically modified HIV-1,” team leader Dr. Chil-Yong Kang told Ontario Business Report. “The infected cells produce lots of virus, which we collect, purify and inactivate so that the vaccine won’t cause AIDS in recipients, but will trigger immune responses.”