Microbicides are designed to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and may be formulated as vaginal gels, foams, creams, or suppositories.
Published in the February 28 issue of the journal AIDS, the multi-site study suggests that as a vaginal gel, Viread’s active ingredient, tenofovir, produced mild or no side effects in both HIV positive and HIV negative women.
Currently, there is no microbicide available that has been approved for widespread use. The tenofovir study was a safety and product acceptability study and did not evaluate if the microbicide would be effective in preventing the transmission of HIV in women. The researchers highlighted that expanded safety and effectiveness testing is needed.
“As the first investigational microbicide to contain an antiretroviral agent, tenofovir gel can prevent HIV from replicating, unlike other microbicides which have been designed to block HIV entry into cells, or have other mechanisms of action,” said co-author Dr Lisa Maslankowski, medical director of the HIV prevention research division at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine.