A Madison company that’s working on a universal influenza vaccine has started a clinical trial using its vaccine to protect against a flu strain that doesn’t match up.

FluGen says the first subject has received a dose of its M2SR vaccine, also known as RedeeFlu, in a study being conducted in Belgium.

The vaccine uses a flu strain that was in vaccines marketed during the 2008-2010 influenza seasons. People in the study will then be exposed to a flu virus tied to outbreaks of the disease in 2015.

“It’s a study that, to our knowledge, has never been done before. We’re excited to see how the vaccine performs,” FluGen CEO Paul Radspinner said.

FluGen plans to test 96 people over the summer months and initial results could be available by the end of the year, Radspinner said. Read the full story here.