Avac Event

Swish or Insert Then Flirt: An update on rectal microbicides

On Thursday, September 17, IRMA and AVAC hosted this global teleconference which discussed rectal microbicide studies underway and being planned that incorporate common anal sex practices, focusing on the development of gels, douches, fast-dissolving rectal tablets (inserts) and suppositories – options that recognize the complexity of sex, human nature, pleasure and HIV.

Presenters included Jose Bauermeister (University of Pennsylvania), Kenneth Ho (University of Pittsburgh) and Craig Hendrix (Johns Hopkins). IRMA’s Jim Picket will moderated the call.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Jose Bauermeister’s Slides / Kenneth Ho’s Slides / Craig Hendrix’s Slides

Avac Event

Whose Choice is it Anyway?

On Monday, October 1st, IRMA and AVAC led a lively discussion on the BRAND NEW IRMA report titled: Whose Choice is it Anyway? Analysis of Comments to and Responses from NIH’s 2017 “Refining the Research Enterprise” Request for Input on Research Priorities. (How’s that for the longest report title in the world?)

Click here to read the new report Whose Choice is it Anyway?

As everyone in the field is aware, the NIH conducted an input process last year that concluded with a release of new HIV prevention research priorities that favor long acting, systemic formulations (like vaccines, implants and injectables) and negate the need for short acting, user-controlled, non-systemic approaches (like vaginal and rectal microbicides).

IRMA was curious about the input that was collected—did most scientists, advocates, and other stakeholders indeed prioritize long acting, systemic formulations, showing little to no interest in other approaches like microbicides?

We asked NIH to see the input that came in, and what their responses were – and they declined to provide that information. So IRMA’s home organization, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, filed a Freedom of Information Act request. And we received over 300 pages of input to NIH, as well as responses to the input from NIH leadership.

IRMA’s Marc-André LeBlanc and Jim Pickett shared the key findings from the analysis of those 300+ pages as presented in the report. They will outlined next steps we can take collectively to help claim and ensure space in the research agenda for HIV prevention options that advocates and researchers want —options that can be used on demand, when, where and how individuals desire.

Special guests from the advocacy community, Irene Hware, Sinazo Peter and Ntando Yola, were invited to make remarks.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

Avac Event

Webinar: We’re On Our Way: Moving forward on the rectal road – new drugs, formulations and modes of delivery

This IRMA/AVAC teleconference featured Dr. Jose Bauermeister (University of Pennsylvania), Dr. Craig Hendrix (Johns Hopkins) and Dr. Kenneth Palmer (University of Louisville) who presented their promising new rectal microbicide research that is underway — we have new molecules, new formulations, new platforms for delivery and new acceptability explorations. Very exciting stuff!

On August 7, we glanced back at where we have been on this long and winding rectal road. On August 21, we looked to where we are going – where we need to go. It is this momentum we want to sustain. And it is the promise of a safe, effective, acceptable/desirable and accessible rectal microbicide for which we must fight — the future is not promised.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

Avac Event

Webinar: The Dapivirine Ring – What’s the story?

A joint STRIVE and AVAC webinar.

For the first time, two large-scale studies have confirmed modest efficacy for a microbicide to prevent HIV. The vaginal ring is made of a flexible silicone material infused with dapivirine, a potent ARV that works by preventing the virus from making copies of itself. The ring enables the drug to be released slowly over time, directly to the site of potential infection, with low absorption elsewhere and is designed to be worn for up to three months at a time.

In this webinar, we discussed:

  • Why were the ring results greeted with disappointment by some and joy by others?
  • What plans are there to introduce the ring into prevention programs and how will it sit within the roll-out of PrEP?
  • What role can/should such biomedical tools play within the overall response to HIV?

Presenter:

Rebekah Webb is an HIV prevention research advocate based in the UK. She has been a campaigner for new prevention options for women since 2002 and was the European Coordinator for the Global Campaign for Microbicides until she began freelancing. Rebekah now works regularly with AVAC, the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and STOPAIDS to advance political commitment to HIV prevention efforts in Europe.

Recommended Background Reading:

Avac Event

EATG-AVAC Webinar Series on Prevention Vaccines, Douches, Gels and Injectables

This was the third and final webinar in the new series on HIV prevention topics. We envisioned what the future of HIV prevention might look like in years to come. This webinar series was designed to update and inform the European community on scientific breakthroughs and the resulting introduction of new prevention options into European contexts.

Speakers included Professor Ian McGowan, principal investigator at the Microbicides Trial Network and Dr Stefano Vella, Head of the Department of Therapeutic Research and Medicines Evaluation at the ISS (the Italian National Institute of Health).

Avac Event

Exploring Dapivirine Ring Results

In the first webinar in our post-CROI webinar series, Jared Baeten (MTN) and Zeda Rosenberg (IPM) spoke about the dapivirine ring trial results announced at the conference and fielded questions from webinar participants.

Download slides and audio from the webinar. A video version is available below.

Avac Event

Investing in Innovation: The Payoff for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health

IPM hosted an event, Investing in Innovation: The Payoff for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health, on the eve of the UN’s Sustainable Development Summit to adopt the new set of Sustainable Development Goals. IPM’s aim was to highlight the many benefits to be gained from investing in innovative solutions to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women and girls.

The panelists included:

  • Zeda Rosenberg, CEO, International Partnership for Microbicides
  • Julia Bunting, President, Population Council
  • Georgina Caswell, Regional Technical Advisor, International HIV/AIDS Alliance
  • Robin Gorna, Executive Director, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH)
  • Katja Iversen, Chief Executive Officer, Women Deliver
  • Jaak Peeters, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health

Avac Event

After FACTS: What’s next for HIV prevention in women?

This webinar featured Helen Rees, principal investigator of the FACTS 001 microbicide trial of vaginal 1% tenofovir gel, and Jared Baeten, co-chair of Partners PrEP.

FACTS 001, which released data at CROI, found no evidence of protection overall associated with the vaginal gel. Partners Demonstration Project, which reported data at the same meeting, found that serodiscordant couples using oral PrEP and/or ART had very low levels of HIV transmission. We discussed what these and other data meant for women, including young and adolescent girls.

Download slides and audio from the webinar.

In advance of the webinar, we suggested the following talks from CROI and excerpts from AVAC Report 2014/15 as background:

Avac Event

2015 Update on the Rectal Microbicide Pipeline: New Agents, New Formulations

The field has spent several intense years studying tenofovir gel as a rectal microbicide, and we all look forward to the results (due early 2016) of the world’s first Phase II rectal microbicide trial MTN 017 which tested a reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir gel.

But there is a lot more going on than tenofovir gel!

In this webinar, hosted by IRMA and AVAC, we looked at new rectal agents in development, including the antiretroviral drug Dapivirine and Griffithsin, a potent, anti-HIV protein derived from red algae. We also discussed plans for developing new microbicide formulations like rectal douches.

Avac Event

Exploring the Pipeline: Lubes, Rings, Films, Fibers, and Shots 4 HIV Prevention

AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Jim Pickett and Jessica Terlikowski, presented Project Ready, Set, PrEP Plus (RSP+), a webinar on the research and development pipeline of new HIV prevention tools. New forms of PrEP were discussed – from lubricants and gels to injections, films, fibers, rectal douches and rings.