Vaginal microbicides: The world’s best hope to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic

The desire for sexual intimacy is perhaps the most basic and compelling need that humans experience. Unfortunately, for most of mankind, sexual intercourse carries with it the risk of HIV/AIDS.

For some, security from disease is provided by condoms. However, despite intensive condom promotion campaigns, condoms are used by only a small minority of the sexually active population.

Tragically, the burden of HIV/AIDS falls disproportionately upon women, because, for cultural reasons, in many countries women are unable assert basic rights for safe sexual practices.

It is from this unmet need that the concept of a vaginal microbicide has emerged. Such a product, in the form of a gel, a cream or a suppository, would provide a chemical barrier to HIV infection.

Starpharma , a Melbourne, Australia-based company, is among the leaders in microbicide development. The company’s product, VivaGel™, has been found highly effective at blocking HIV infection in animal models and has recently begun human safety (Phase 1) studies.

VivaGel™ prevents HIV infection by sticking to and blocking the protein that the virus uses to target human cells. Its active ingredient is a novel chemical product of the nanotechnology revolution called a “dendrimer.” Indeed Starpharma’s VivaGel™ is the first dendrimer drug ever to enter human clinical trials.

If VivaGel™ or another vaginal microbicide is proven effective, the human health benefits could be enormous. Conservative estimates are that an effective vaginal microbicide could easily prevent 2.5 million HIV infections per year worldwide.

The scope of the human health benefit is so large that the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS, Stephen Lewis, recently called the discovery of a microbicide “one of the great causes of this era.”

In developing VivaGel™ vaginal microbicide, Starpharma is proud to be a leader in a new technology that promises hope and peace of mind to millions of people throughout the world.

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