HIV vaccine hopeful needs investors as drug moves through approval process

published on September 3, 2013 in The London Free Press

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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HIV vaccine hopeful needs investors as drug moves through approval process

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