Microbicides

Today we had a site visit from the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). Several representatives came to examine our facilities and services to gauge our capacity to host a clinical trial for their organization. Since microbicides are one of the lesser known products in the pipeline for the fight against HIV/AIDS, I thought I'd write a little about them.

Microbicides are vaginal products that can be used by women to protect themselves from HIV. The motivation for research into these products is based on the fact that biologically and, particularly socially, women are at greater risk of contracting HIV than men. The major social factor is that the women who are at greatest risk of contracting the virus most often lack the power to negotiate abstinance and condom use. Therefore there is interest in developing microbicide products that women can use with or without knowledge or consent from their partners. The IPM is the organization that is leading product development and research for microbicides.

The first generation of microbicides was developed in the early 1990s and includes gel products that must be administered just before sexual intercourse. The efficacy of these products is not yet known, but there are a number of reasons why widespread acceptance of these products is doubtful (the fact that they can only be used with planned sexual intercourse, cultural opposition, etc.). These are the factors that have made me skeptical of microbicide research.

However, the new generations of microbicide products seem much more well thought out and possible than the first generation products. These products come in various forms besides gels that include creams, rings or films that can be applied once a day or once a month, independent of sexual activity. In my opinion, these products are much more likely to be accepted than those of the first generation.

For more information, visit IPM's website at http://www.ipm-microbicides.org/.