The first human trial of its kind was carried out at Surrey’s Clinical Research Centre, where scientists examined the safety of the monoclonal antibody on 11 female participants.

The development is part of the Pharma-Planta project, which aims to use GM plants to make drugs cheaper to produce.

Speaking after the announcement that the trial had been approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Clinical Research Centre director Dr Julia Boyle said: “Clearly this is an exciting development which should hopefully pave the way for future trials of this nature.”

P2G12, the antibody cultivated from the plant, could be used in combination with other HIV-neutralising antibodies to create a topically-applied protective product for women.

Pharma-Planta was created by a consortium of 30 academic and industrial partners using €12 million of European Union funding.