Profectus BioSciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines, announced Monday that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded to Profectus two contracts totaling $21.6 million to develop a preventative HIV vaccine.

Both HIV vaccine products are expected to begin human clinical trials by late 2009. The vaccines were originally developed by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and licensed to Profectus in 2008. Profectus BioSciences is based in Baltimore Maryland.