Microbicides
The science of microbicides accelerating development
Increased funding needed to sustain microbicide development
Authors:
; Science Working Group: Microbicides Initiative
Publisher:
International Partnership for Microbicides , 2002
This document is the consensus report from the Science Working Group of the Microbicides Initiative. It outlines how the past decade has seen an increase in basic scientific research, resulting in the development of many new compounds. Other advances include: increased transparency in the regulatory pathway for human studies; and greater consensus concerning the appropriate design of clinical trails and ethical standards. However, no major pharmaceutical firm has made a significant investment in developing microbicides and public sector support has fallen short of providing the required funding.
The authors identify specific areas of investment to help accelerate the development of first-generation microbicides. These include: improved funding for large-scale clinical effectiveness trials; greater support and coordination of formulation, manufacturing and delivery resources; increased resources for toxicological and pharmacodynamic testing; and sustained resources for the development of microbicides through several product generations. The authors stress that proving clinical effectiveness of microbicides and demonstrating that they are a valuable weapon in the fight against HIV and AIDS requires significantly greater resources than are currently being devoted to the field. They therefore call for increased investment and continued political support in the development and distribution of microbicides. [adapted from author]
