AIDS vaccine developed in Ont. nears human trials

An experimental vaccine aimed at combating the HIV/AIDS virus has been developed by a researcher at the University of Western Ontario in London and is ready to be put through a key testing phase, the university announced Wednesday.

The vaccine, developed by virologist Dr. Chil-Yong Kang, will now go through toxicology tests to ensure it can safely be injected into humans.

Toxicology trials using animals will begin in a matter of days at a research facility in the United States with results expected in approximately three months, Kang said.

Phase 1 human clinical trials could begin in early spring.

Unlike other vaccines, which have used only a small amount of HIV's genetic material, Kang said his vaccine uses a whole dead HIV-1 virus, a technique Jonas Salk used in the polio vaccine.

"We have engineered a virus in such a way that it can be produced in larger quantities in shorter periods of time and it is also non-pathogenic. In other words, it doesn't cause the disease," Kang said. "We have tested animals and they do respond to the vaccine and we now have to try it in humans."

The vaccine will be tested in individuals who are HIV-positive, but don't yet have AIDS symptoms, Kang said.

On Wednesday, the university also announced it's one of four Canadian organizations - and the only one in Ontario - currently under consideration to build an HIV vaccine-manufacturing facility.

"This is exhilarating and promising news for London," Ted Hewitt, the university's vice-president of research, said. "We have our work cut out for us, as I am sure the competition will be tough, but London and Western have a great history of research and manufacturing success. This is exemplified by the leading research of Dr. Chil-Yong Kang in developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine."

A federal government spokesman declined to release the names of the other organizations bidding for the project.

In February 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and philanthropist Bill Gates joined forces to support the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, which included $88 million in funding from the government and the foundation to build a high-tech vaccine-manufacturing facility.

The facility would be on a pilot scale, which means it would produce enough vaccine for clinical trials - testing on human subjects - but not necessarily for treatments.

A final decision on where the facility will be built is expected in May 2009.

"If we had such a facility in Canada earlier, our vaccine could have moved a little faster because we could not find a proper facility two years ago," Kang said.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981, and approximately 35 million people live with HIV infection worldwide today, he said.

Dr. Ken Rosenthal, a vaccine researcher and professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, said attempts around the world to find a vaccine have so far failed.

"There have been a lot of trials, but very few trials have reached later phases where efficacy is actually determined," said Rosenthal, a past president of the Canadian Association for HIV research. "There have been setbacks."

He said HIV is one of the most challenging viruses against which to make a vaccine because there are many different genetic forms of the virus and it mutates at extremely high rates.