The CONRAD program at Eastern Virginia Medical School has announced a $12 million grant from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a multi-country clinical trial of a microbocide to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

The main goal of the project is to determine whether a vaginal microbicide is an effective, safe method for preventing HIV transmission. CONRAD plans to meet that goal by completing two Phase III HIV prevention trails with a gel consisting of 6 percent cellulose sulfate (CS), also known as Ushercell, which was developed by CONRAD in collaboration with Toronto-based Polydex Pharmaceuticals Ltd. One trial, implemented by CONRAD, will be conducted in India and four African countries and will be funded equally by the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which has committed $12 million in matching funds to the project. A similar trial, already initiated in Nigeria in collaboration with Family Health International, is entirely supported by USAID.

Researchers hope that the trials will demonstrate a significant decrease — at least 50 percent — in HIV incidence among CS users compared to placebo users, as well as a measurable reduction in incidences of gonorrhea and chlamydia. According to CONRAD director Henry Gabelnick, a microbicide of 50 percent efficacy and 20 percent service coverage would prevent 2.5 million new infections, resulting in $3.7 billion in savings for healthcare systems.

"An urgent need exists to provide additional means of prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission as rapidly as possible," said Gabelnick. "Although male and female condoms can provide protection, they are not used sufficiently and consistently. The availability of a microbicide that can be used by a woman to protect herself has a good probability of being this necessary alternative."