Intarcia Therapeutics has announced grants and equity financing totaling as much as $140 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and advance an anti-HIV prevention therapy.

As part of its commitment, the foundation will make a $50 million program-related investment in the company's Series EE equity financing round, with up to an additional $90 million in milestone-based grants tied to the progress of its HIV program. With the goal of preventing the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions where the epidemic is most severe, Intarcia hopes to develop the first anti-HIV prophylactic that can be administered just once or twice a year. The therapy will be delivered through Intarcia's proprietary Medici Drug Delivery System, a matchstick-size device that is implanted under the skin and continuously releases medicine, enabling optimal adherence — a critical factor in effective HIV prevention.

"Thanks to tremendous financing progress, an even stronger shareholder base, our recent NDA [new drug application] submission in type 2 diabetes, and now a groundbreaking relationship with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," said Kurt Graves, the company's chair, president, and CEO, "Intarcia is poised to open up a totally new category of important once- or twice-yearly treatment and prevention therapies for some of the world's most serious chronic diseases — including those that disproportionately affect people with some of the greatest unmet needs."

"There's a vital need for an HIV/AIDS intervention that allows those at risk to incorporate prevention more easily into their daily lives," said Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann. "We feel optimistic about our partnership with Intarcia and the prospect of an implantable prophylactic device that could make a world of difference for people most in need."