For those who wish they had gotten in on the ground floor of companies such as Apple or Google, a London scientist has thrown open the door to investors in what he believes will be the world’s first vaccine for HIV.
Chil-Yong Kang has cleared a major hurdle for his vaccine, showing it to be safe and potentially effective in a clinical trial involving a few dozen people.
But the next two phases to seek regulatory approval will prove costly – he estimates roughly $100 million.
While the Korean drug company that has backed the vaccine, Sumagen Co. Ltd., is seeking a multinational partner, Kang says now is the time for smaller and mid-sized players to get in, too – before a Phase 2 trial moves the vaccine a step closer.
“The price will go up as we complete Phase 2,” he said Tuesday.
A scientist at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kang began his search for a vaccine two decades ago and has followed the path less taken.
Other HIV vaccines are based on fragments of virus, an approach Kang says has fallen short. He uses a whole virus, as is done for polio, rabies, influenza and hepatitis A, an approach others thought would prove unsafe or impossible to make in large quantities – obstacles he believes he has overcome with chemicals, gamma rays and genetic modifications.
His Korean backer agrees: “Sumagen anticipates not only having the first HIV vaccine in market, but also the eradication of HIV/AIDS for human beings.”
But Sumagen lacks the high-security lab needed to make the vaccine and the deep pockets to take on the risk of development on its own.
Jonathan Sher
The London Free Press
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