CONRAD Receives $24
Million to Test Gel that Fights HIV Spread
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CONRAD Director Henry Gabelnick,
Ph.D. |
May 13, 2005
NORFOLK—The CONRAD program of
EVMS has received two grants totaling $24 million to evaluate the
effectiveness of a contraceptive gel that could reduce the spread of
HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for
International Development will share the cost of the multi-year phase
III trials in India and four African countries. CONRAD is a
world-renowned EVMS research program that fosters the development of
contraceptives and products to stem the transmission of sexually
transmitted diseases in third-world countries.
If the "microbicide" gel proves effective as a way to diminish the
spread of HIV, it could save millions of lives in countries where the
disease now runs rampant. A microbicide is an agent that can destroy
microbes and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
"An urgent need exists to provide additional means of prevention of
HIV/AIDS transmission as rapidly as possible," said CONRAD Director
Henry Gabelnick, Ph.D., a research professor in the EVMS Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology. "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."
The microbicide under study is known as Ushercell. It is manufactured
by Polydex Pharmaceuticals Limited, based in Toronto, Ontario.
Gabelnick hopes the studies will demonstrate a significant decrease —
at least 50 percent — in HIV incidence among those who use Ushercell
rather than a placebo. He also expects to see a measurable reduction
in the incidence of gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Based on mathematical modeling, a microbicide of 50 percent efficacy
and 20 percent service coverage could prevent 2.5 million new
infections, leading to $3.7 billion in direct cost savings to health
systems and indirect cost savings through increased productivity.
Since its inception in 1985, CONRAD has received more than $200
million in government and private funding. Its main office is located
in Arlington, Va.
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For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and
Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional
Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
gardneda@evms.edu
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