New Drugs Block HIV in Women

New Drugs Block HIV in Women

An experimental vaginal gel and two new antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have yielded promising results in preventing HIV infection in women. The experiments showed that ARV drugs, given through mouth or by vaginal gel, were highly effective in blocking infection by HIV virus.

A third study on 3100 women at six sites in Africa and one in the United States showed the protection by a vaginal gel that acts by binding up the AIDS virus and preventing it from invading cells. The field of microbicide gels is moving into a new generation.

The gel used in the human study reduced the risk of infection over the course of about two years. In the first monkey study, the researchers gave rhesus macaques oral doses of a compound containing two ARV drugs, tenofovir and emtricitabine. When the first dose was given three days before contact with the virus, five out of six animals were protected. When it was given six animals six animals were protected. When the dose was given two hours before exposure, only three in six were protected.