Once upon a time, there were many incurable diseases like cancer, tuberculosis etc, but thanks to tremendous advancement of medical science for which, almost every incurable diseases now have turned out into curable except Human Immunodeficiency Virus, well known as HIV which causes AIDS. But now it’s been reported that Tampere-based FIT Biotech company possibly has made a vaccine of HIV.
For long time, medical researchers have been trying to create a medicine or vaccine to prevent HIV. However, previous tests have shown that a vaccine may have the ability to stop the progression of the disease, or at best to eliminate the HIV virus completely. After long hard work, the FIT Biotech company in collaboration with two leading European Universities and one/two large American pharmaceutical companies believes that it has made a vaccine that can eradicate HIV or at best can prevent it from spreading within body.
At first, FIT Biotech will test the vaccine upon hundreds of HIV patients some time after spring 2014 and later it will test the vaccine upon thousands of HIV patients throughout France and Switzerland. This tests will be done to verify the vaccine’s efficacy at reducing the viral load of current HIV patients, in conjunction with AIDS medication. If all goes well, the vaccine is supposed to be approved and will become available within 5 years.
Kalevi Reijonen, a medical doctor as well as FIT Biotech’s CEO has mentioned that each year drug related medical treatment of an HIV-patient in an industrialized country costs some 10-15,000 euros per year. With vaccination, the cost could be around a tenth of that figure. He has also hinted that the medication will revolutionize the treatment of HIV.
Reijonen said, “The study will last two to three years. Then, of course, applications will be made to the FDA in the USA and the EMA in Europe to authorise the marketing of the drug. Dealing with the regulations may take a year and a half. So we’re still looking at about five years before the drug would become available.”
Note that, FIT Biotech does not intend to manufacture the vaccine for sale itself, but will license production to a partner. Regarding this, Reijonen said, “Our licensing negotiations will certainly be launched early next year because when these studies begin an agreement must also be negotiated. So, we are trying to move forward now on quite a tight schedule.”
Source: YLE
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