Research Team Gets FDA Approval for HIV Vaccine Trial

The FDA has granted University of Western Ontario researchers approval to start human trials of their HIV vaccine.

The FDA has granted University of Western Ontario researchers approval to start human trials of their HIV vaccine. Phase I testing of the vaccine, dubbed SAV001, is expected kick off in January 2012.

Even though Dr. Chil-Yong Kang and his team trail others in their field who have already begun clinical trials of HIV vaccines, Kang is confident his approach could be the key to cracking the tricky HIV virus code.

Kang's method is similar to that used for polio, rabies, flu and other vaccines. "These diseases are all prevented by the killed whole virus. However, none of the researchers in the past have used this approach to develop HIV vaccines," he explained.

Rather than trying