Dive Brief:

• A former Iowa State University scientist accused of falsifying research results for an experimental HIV vaccine has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements.
• Dong-Pyou Han, 57, made his not-guilty plea on Tuesday. He is facing up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines, and his trial is set to begin Sept. 2.
• According to prosecutors, Han confessed in a letter to the university to spiking samples of rabbit blood with human antibodies to make an experimental vaccine appear to have great promise, the Associated Press reported.

Dive Insight:

While it’s rare to launch a criminal prosecution for scientific fraud, Han’s case is extraordinary, according to an expert quoted by the AP. Han didn’t do his defense any favors with his confession letter, in which he said that he started the fraud in 2009, and that he acted alone. While initially his research seemed to represent a breakthrough, last year, scientists at Harvard University discovered the spiked blood samples. Prosecutors say Han’s fraud led his colleagues to make false statements to the National Institutes of Health, which has paid $5 million for the project. Iowa State has agreed to pay back nearly $500,000 of the grant money as reimbursement for Han’s salary.