The 5th HIV Research for Prevention (R4P) conferenceis being held in Lima, Peru from 6 to 10 October. Held every two years, HIVR4P is the only global conference to focused exclusively on biomedical HIV prevention, including AIDS vaccines, microbicides, PrEP, treatment as prevention and other approaches.
See below for conference highlights, recaps and announcements.
AIDS 2024: New Ways for the Next Wave: Innovative R&D for the future of women’s prevention
This session will be 9:30AM to 11:00AM Munich time.
Women need a range of HIV prevention options to meet different needs, preferences and life circumstances. Currently available pills, rings and injectables are necessary but insufficient. How might we accelerate the delivery of methods we have while developing additional ones – including systemic and non-systemic methods, short-acting and on-demand products, to complement longer-acting ones? Product developers and advocates are collaborating on new approaches to expedite R&D of additional HIV prevention options. Notably, MATRIX is taking a unique approach, endorsed by the CASPR network of advocates, that aims to improve the odds of success of new products – through development, delivery and use.
This session will focus on new efforts to identify and develop promising options, strategically engage all stakeholders, decolonize R&D and involve potential users in all their diversities throughout the process.
Speakers:
Jeanne Marrazzo, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Sharon Hillier, University of Pittsburgh / Magee-Womens Research Institute
Kelly Chibale, Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre -H3D, University of Cape Town
Nyaradzo Mgodi, University of Zimbabwe- Harare Health Research Centre
Jerop Ruth Limo, Ambassador for Youth and Adolescents Reproductive Health Program (AYARHEP)
Moderators:
Navita Jain, AVAC
Kenneth Ngure, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Session Chairs:
Sharon Hillier, University of Pittsburgh / Magee-Womens Research Institute
Imelda Mahaka, Pangaea Zimbabwe
This satellite session will be co-hosted by CASPR and MATRIX, with support from USAID and PEPFAR.
Tracking PrEP Rollout & Learning Lessons
Accelerating the rollout of the full range of proven HIV prevention options depends on learning from what’s been done in the past and investing in coordination and innovation to put improved solutions in place. The Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC) is doing just that. Over the last two years, BioPIC—a project led by AVAC with support from the Gates Foundation—has been gathering and sharing evidence on these critical lessons to ensure the next generation of HIV prevention products reaches everyone who needs and wants them with much greater speed and equity.
What We’re Learning—Highlights from 2024 Convenings
An ongoing series of think tanks, convened by BioPIC and WHO since 2021, are generating key insights for people-centered product delivery. Below, read the latest reports from these think tanks that are informing decision-making on priorities for accelerating access to PrEP. Go to the BioPIC’s page on PrEPWatch to find reports on all think tanks since 2021.
Early Insights from EBONI and PILLAR, February 2024: Early insights from ViiV Healthcare, the manufacturer of CAB for PrEP, from two CAB for PrEP implementation studies, EBONI and PILLAR. Conducted by ViiV in the US, these are among the first studies gathering data in real-world settings. Learn more
Taking Stock of PrEP Evidence, March 2024: An analysis of current data and priority evidence gaps. This inquiry was not focused on any one PrEP product, and its findings are informing the focus of future think tanks. Learn more
Discussing Early Results from the SEARCH Dynamic Choice Study, April 2024: Professor Moses Kamya of Makerere University shares early insights from the SEARCH Dynamic Choice Study in Kenya and Uganda, which gave participants a choice between oral PrEP, PEP, and CAB for PrEP, and analyzes the role of choice in PrEP coverage. Watch here
PrEP and the Role of HIV Self-Testing, May 23: Highlights from the WHO guidance on use of self-testing (HIVST) as an innovative way to increase PrEP access and coverage and further simplify PrEP delivery. Panelists also share experiences with procurement, costing, rollout and scale-up. Watch Here
We hope you will book mark these resources, and stay up to date on findings from future think tanks and webinars in 2024 on the BioPIC page of PrEPWatch.
Avac Event
The More We Know: Evolving our understanding of PrEP for cisgender women
Science and real-world experience continue to demand a re-assessment of our collective understanding of the safety and effectiveness of PrEP options for women, including oral, vaginal ring, and injectable options. For instance, a new paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo (HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis with Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Among Cisgender Women) challenges the notion, baked into policies, programs and “conventional wisdom”, that cisgender women need to be “super-adherers” to achieve protection utilizing oral PrEP. In this webinar, we discussed this important paper and more.
Speakers: • Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases • Joyce Ng’ang’a, WACI Health
The new director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo joined AVAC Executive Director in conversation.
New Year, New PrEPWatch Resources
In 2024 we look forward to continuing to provide advocates with tools to support our collective work to ensure access to PrEP in all its forms to all who can benefit from it.
PrEPWatch.org has grown significantly in the past year, reaching a growing number of implementers, policy makers and advocates with continually updated tools and information that are instrumental to delivering the growing range of HIV prevention options. Throughout 2023, visitors from every country in the world have used PrEPWatch.org, a one-stop online clearinghouse of data, guidelines, tracking tools and other resources to help the global community speed the delivery of every proven method of PrEP to everyone who needs it. Check out what’s new and updated on PrEPWatch.org!
PrEPWatch has added 35 new country pages where you can find the status of drug registration for PrEP products, data on PrEP initiations by product, country-level PEPFAR targets, and links to key policy documents and guidelines.
The Integrated Study Dashboard
Produced under the BioPIC project, the Integrated Study Dashboard tracks all currently known activities relating to implementation research, modelling, clinical research, and landscaping for new biomedical HIV PrEP options, including CAB for PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR), and has been recently expanded to include links to study results and study websites. The dashboard is updated in real time, and links to results will be added as they become available.
More Essential Resources on PrEPWatch.org
Tracking Country Planning for Product Introduction
The Country Planning for Product Introduction Matrix tracks key indicators for the introduction of injectable CAB and the DVR by country, including regulatory status, late-stage clinical trials and implementation research, procurement plans, and recent oral PrEP provision.
Training PrEP Champions
Among the most popular resources on PrEPWatch, the HIV Prevention Ambassador Training Package and Toolkit prepares potential and current PrEP users to be leaders – and “Ambassadors” – in the rollout of PrEP for HIV prevention in their communities. Developed as part of the MOSAIC project, it includes a training manual and resources for Ambassadors to use in peer outreach and community education.
Trends in PrEP Initiations
The Global PrEP Tracker provides quarterly updates on global trends in PrEP initiation by geography, delivery models, and more. The Global PrEP Tracker has become an indispensable resource for following the state of the field in delivering PrEP.
We hope these tools, created through strong partnerships and joint effort, support your work to accelerate the delivery of HIV prevention options. We are always interested in collaboration to ensure needed resources are developed and up to date. If you have information to share or resource needs, please let us know by reaching out to janki@avac.org and catherine@avac.org.
Px Pulse: A season of listening
As we look ahead to 2024 and the vital work AVAC and partners will be carrying forward, the conversations from 2023 offer guidance and insights. Px Pulse, AVAC’s podcast on critical issues facing HIV prevention research, hosted several not-be-missed conversations in 2023 that will reverberate into the year ahead.
From a stalled PEPFAR reauthorization to LGBTQIA+ voices fighting persecution in Uganda; from efforts to bring equity to a new global architecture for pandemic readiness to advances in HIV vaccine science and advocacy to include pregnant people in research—we hope that all of these conversations can inform our advocacy in 2024. Click on the episode for both recordings and resources.
Considered one of the greatest US foreign policy and global development achievements of the century, the program has saved upwards of 25 million lives since it launched in 2003. But PEPFAR is marking its 20th anniversary while fighting for its future. LISTEN HERE.
In March 2023, the Ugandan Parliament moved forward broad-reaching legislation to further criminalize LGBTQIA+ people. This podcast features Ugandan advocates and AVAC partners discussing the specifics of how these attacks have gained momentum and their ties to US-based religious extremists. The advocates discuss what needs to happen next. LISTEN HERE.
Health leaders around the world are in the midst of creating a new architecture to deal with pandemics. Chris Collins, the CEO and President at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, talks about what’s at stake, which policymakers get it already, why this year matters so much, and what advocates can do about it. LISTEN HERE.
Over the coming months, global leaders will make key decisions about several initiatives to prepare for the next pandemic. This podcast explores what they commit to, how much they will spend and how well these plans safeguard equity. LISTEN HERE.
AVAC’s Manju Chatani-Gada takes us through conversations with a trial participant who became pregnant, researchers, policymakers and donors to understand why this population gets excluded, the impact it has and what to do about it. LISTEN HERE.
Evolving Strategies for an HIV Vaccine: One researcher explains where the field is going and why? Dr. Katy Stephenson explores the implications of recent trial results, the big questions driving next generation vaccine development, and new strategies underway in early phase research. LISTEN HERE.
Happy listening—and let us know what topics you want to hear more about in 2024!
People who are pregnant or lactating (PLP) have historically been excluded from research because of concerns for the developing fetus. But this has led to a dearth of data on new interventions against health threats for this population. In the case of HIV, pregnancy raises the risk of acquiring HIV by up to three times, but providers often do not have the data to know whether a new intervention is safe or how it will work for pregnant patients. As a result, PLP and their physicians are left to make difficult decisions around the use of proven HIV prevention products as they await more data specific to pregnancy and lactation.
But change is in the air. Champions for the inclusion of PLP in research are paving the way for a paradigm shift— one that will redefine this population from needing protection from research to being better protected through research. In this episode of Px Pulse, AVAC’s Manju Chatani-Gada takes us through conversations with a trial participant who became pregnant, researchers, policy-makers and donors to understand why this population gets excluded, the impact it has, and what to do about it.
Tune in to hear
Dr. Anne Drapkin Lyerly, Principal Investigator of the PHASES Project to advance equitable inclusion of pregnant women in HIV research and its follow-on project, PREPARE, focused on ethical HIV research in adolescents who are pregnant.
Elisia Madende, Trial participant in the HPTN 084 trial in Zimbabwe
Dr. Ashley Lima, Health Science Specialist and Lead Technical Advisor for Socio-behavioral Research – USAID Office of HIV/AIDS Research Division
Dr. Takunda Sola, HIV Prevention and Key Populations Medical Officer- Zimbabwe MoH AIDS/TB Unit
This dynamic, workshop-style showcase was the first of a series that featured multimedia presentations that took participants through key PrEP resources including: A toolkit to ensure programs related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV prevention are well designed to reach and support adolescent girls and young women. Comprehensive databases for tracking PrEP uptake, Implementation research and other critical data by product, country, and population.
Small groups had opportunities to take deep dives into each of the above resources, and explore how they might use these in their work. Additionally, participants provided input on what resources are still needed, collaborate on how to improve and disseminate what exists, and support the development of evidence and networks to advance HIV prevention.
Spotlight on New PrEP Tools and Data: From R&D to access
Tuesday, November 28
Between the recent accelerated growth in global PrEP initiations, and the introduction of new PrEP products like cabotegravir and the dapivirine vaginal ring, the field of PrEP data has never been more exciting or more complex. Staying on top of the latest advances is key for advocates, researchers, funders, and others working in HIV prevention to do their job effectively—but how can you navigate the vast amount of PrEP data online? AVAC, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), and Unitaid presented information on three important online PrEP resources and understand how they can support and enhance your work:
PrEPWatch.org: the one stop shop for PrEP resources to support introduction and scale-up, including the PrEPTracker, the only place to find information on global PrEP initiations online
Access to Medicines Tracker: the go-to place for quarterly-updated insights on regulatory filings, regulatory approvals, and product supplies of MPP-licensed generic medicines at the country level.
