Spotlight on MPTs Addressing STIs

This graphic outlines the development journey of multipurpose technologies (MPTs) that guard against STIs, including HIV, while also preventing pregnancy. It tracks the advancement of various potential products through different trial stages, emphasizing their combined protective roles. Excerpted from our Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Technologies.

MPT R&D Funding 2018-2021

This graphic tracks funding levels for a variety of multipurpose technologies for several years. Excerpted from our Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Prevention Technologies.

At A Glance: The MPT R&D Pipeline

This graphic shows the status of products in development. Excerpted from our Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Technologies.

Advocates’ Guide to Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (MPTs)

Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) are products designed to simultaneously address more than one sexual and reproductive health concern. This advocates’ guide shows the pipeline of products in development, discusses why MPTs are needed, investment, and what advocates can do to push for MPT development and introduction.

PxPulse: The Advocacy Chronicles with Ruth Akulu

On this episode of the Advocacy Chronicles: a look at advocacy in Uganda for the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP), a new product combining oral PrEP and oral contraception.

Ruth Akulu is a Youth Representative of the Uganda Country Coordinating Mechanism Board for Global Fund, member of the DPP Civil Society Advisory Group, and a 2022 AVAC Advocacy Fellow. Akulu talks about her work to mobilize regulatory authorities to prepare for the DPP. And while she was at it, the establishment of a groundbreaking new initiative, the Product Regulator’s Engagement Committee, which is supporting ongoing engagement between government regulators and young women representing their communities.  

Listen to learn why the DPP is a priority for young women and HIV prevention, the challenges Ruth confronted and tactics that supported the success of this advocacy.

Listen

Resources

Avac Event

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
  • Thesla Palanee-Phillips, Wits RHI

Followed by a moderated panel with:

  • Chimwemwe Chamdimba, African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization (AMRH) initiative- AUDA/NEPAD
  • 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.

Years Ahead in HIV Prevention Research: Time to Market

This timeline shows the potential time points when the next-generation of HIV prevention options might find their way into new programs.

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
  • Linking Modellers with the Latest Implementation Science Evidence, March 2024: A consideration of the latest modelling data and insights on injectable cabotegravir (CAB) for PrEP. Read about the biggest takeaways from CAB for PrEP modelling here, and learn more about the big questions that require further inquiry here
  • 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

As other new biomedical HIV prevention products roll out, BioPIC will continue to hold strategic convenings, identify and address evidence gaps, and work to accelerate equitable product introduction. To learn more efforts to coordinate the introduction of CAB for PrEP, check out the JIAS article Shaping and coordinating the implementation science agenda for injectable cabotegravir for PrEP: the role of the Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC). To learn what’s needed to better coordinate rollout for not-yet-approved products in Phase III clinical trials, check out BioPIC’s Adaptable Product Introduction Framework. 

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

Moderator:
Raniyah Copeland, Equity & Impact Solutions

Materials:
Recording / Ukrainian Audio / Slides / Resources / Audio Transcript (English/Ukrainian)

Join us at CROI 2024!

Dear Advocate, 
 
The 31st annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) kicks off this weekend, and runs from March 3-6 in Denver, Colorado. CROI is the go-to forum for groundbreaking science in the HIV field, and this years’ program is full of exciting new research.  

At AVAC, we’re tracking data and discussion on long-acting, injectable PrEP; the dapvirine vaginal ring (DVR) in pregnancy; doxycycline as post-exposure prophylaxis (DoxyPEP) to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and the latest in HIV cure and control. We’re also very excited for this year’s Martin Delaney Presentation – Unveiling the Power of Uganda’s LGBTIQ Advocacy in Shaping HIV Response and Health Care Access – that will be delivered by Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) in Uganda and couldn’t be more timely. Be sure to check out the conference program.  

AVAC and partners have worked to follow and explain the research presented at CROI for many years, making the science more accessible, connecting the findings to community priorities, and ensuring civil society and affected communities are represented within the program, and ultimately the research. For those attending or not, this email shares ways to follow along and join in the discussion and debate. 

 Follow Along 
 Be part of the conversation by following AVAC on X (Twitter) at @hivpxresearch for real-time updates using the conference hashtag #CROI2024, and be sure to sign up and follow our partner, Aidsmap, who will be reporting from the conference. 
 
Community Breakfast Clubs (CROI registration not required 
 Join the CROI Community Liaisons, AVAC, the European AIDS Treatment Group, and partners for daily Community Breakfast Clubs. These virtual webinars feature researchers and advocates discussing some of the most consequential science being presented at CROI. They are open to all, CROI registrants and non-registrants alike.  
 

Monday, 4 March, 7:00am – 8:00am MT (Click here to determine the time in your location.) 

Spotlight on Social and Behavioural Science at CROI 2024 

Tuesday, 5 March, 7:00am – 8:00am MT (Click here to determine the time in your location.) 

Living with HIV for a Lifetime – It’s Complicated 

Wednesday, 6 March, 7:00am – 8:00am MT (Click here to determine the time in your location.) 

Research Roundup: Scientists and Advocates Offer Fresh Perspectives and Seasoned Analyses of CROI 2024 Research 

Looking forward to seeing you at the daily Breakfast Club sessions and to working together to unpack the research and be sure it is applied! 

 
Best, 
AVAC