11 January 2012 - US-based Omnia Biologics Inc said on Tuesday its client, South Korean biotech Sumagen Co Ltd, would initiate clinical studies of the Omnia-manufactured HIV vaccine.

The Phase I clinical trial, which has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will begin this month.

Omnia was part of the international effort to advance the viral vaccine into clinical studies providing process and assay development services and making the vaccine under GMP for Sumagen.

The collaboration also included Chil-Yong Kang, a professor at University of Western Ontario's medical school, who was instrumental in the design and testing of the vaccine.  Preclinical tests have demonstrated that the vaccine was safe and produced strong immune responses.