Press Release

Continued declines in HIV research funding put global prevention targets at great risk

Contacts

AVAC: Kay Marshall, [email protected], +1-347-249-6375
IAVI: Anita Kawatra, [email protected], +1 212-847-1055

Madrid – HIV prevention research funding continued to decline in 2017 for the fifth consecutive year, driven largely by a five-year low in US public sector funding, according to a report released today at the HIV Research for Prevention (HIVR4P 2018) conference in Madrid, Spain.

The Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group’s 14th annual report, Investing to End the Epidemic, documents funding that fell to the lowest level in more than a decade: In 2017, funding for HIV prevention research and development (R&D) decreased by 3.5 percent (US$40 million) from the previous year, falling to US$1.13 billion.

This declining funding comes at a time of great optimism for research, with a slate of efficacy trials across the prevention pipeline – including major HIV vaccine, passive antibody and next generation PrEP efficacy trials – and critical follow-on research for proven antiretroviral-based prevention options, notably the dapivirine vaginal ring. But it also comes a time when the broader HIV field is grappling with a prevention crisis that is exacerbated by decreased funding for the overall HIV response and a lack of political will to adequately fund a response that will ensure the world meets the ambitious prevention targets to end the epidemic.

The Working Group warns that getting to zero new infections will not only require the expansion of existing options like voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) and oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but also the development of innovative new products, including long-acting, antiretroviral-based prevention options and a vaccine. Sustained funding is critical to keep the full gamut of HIV prevention research moving forward in a timely manner. Even small declines in funding can delay or sideline promising, new HIV prevention options that are needed to end the HIV epidemic.

“Make no mistake. We are in a prevention crisis and we cannot afford a further funding crisis,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC executive director. “It is unacceptable that donor funding for HIV prevention research continues to fall year after year even as research is moving new options closer to reality. We need continued and sustained investment to keep HIV prevention research on track to provide the additional tools that are required for sustainable, durable control of the HIV epidemic.”

The US government continued to be the major funder of HIV prevention research, contributing almost three-fourths of overall funding. A decrease of almost six percent, though, brought funding to a five-year low of US$830 million. The Working Group noted that sharp declines in US government funding have a major impact on the biomedical HIV prevention R&D field. With uncertainty around continued political will to fund the HIV response, this trend is extremely worrying.

Together, the US public sector and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) represented 87 percent of the total global investment in 2017, an imbalance that has continued for several years. The Working Group in this year’s report cautioned against the disproportionate impact of shifting donor priorities by these two donors on cutting-edge research, noting that a US$50 million decrease in vaccine R&D in 2017 was largely attributed to cuts from the US government, while a 67 percent increase in VMMC funding in 2017 is due largely to enhanced investment from BMGF. The Working Group renewed a call to diversify the funding base to ensure both the sustainability of the field and that decades of gains made in scientific innovation are not lost to fluctuating investment.

The Working Group noted with concern that funding by the European Commission (EC) dropped by almost half from 2016 to 2017 (US$14.4 million in 2016 to US$7.6 million). Noting increases in public sector funding from Canada, Brazil and the Netherlands, the Working Group called on other European countries to increase investment in critical HIV prevention tools to help end the epidemic and to offset the drop in EC funding.

“A true end to AIDS will only be possible if we can develop and deploy an effective, accessible HIV vaccine and other biomedical innovations to prevent HIV infection,” said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. “Decades of research are paying off with the most exciting advances we’ve seen to date. But progress can only continue with sustained public and private sector investment in HIV prevention R&D.”

As researchers, implementers, advocates and funders gather this week in Madrid to review progress in HIV prevention research, there is much to be optimistic about in HIV science and in the accumulated knowledge of how to end the epidemic. At the same time, sobering changes in the funding and policy environment could imperil future progress and wipe out the progress made. Funding constraints, policy changes, shifting donor priorities and shifting demographics will all play a role in the world’s ability to respond to the continued challenges that HIV presents.

“With 5000 people becoming infected with HIV every day it is critical that we both scale up the effective HIV prevention programmes we currently have and invest in new technologies and solutions so that they can become a reality for the populations most affected by HIV,” said Tim Martineau, Deputy Executive Director, Programme a.i. UNAIDS. “Doing both will avert new infections, save lives and reduce the rising costs of life-long antiretroviral treatment.”

The report and infographics on prevention research investment are online at www.hivresourcetracking.org and on social media with #HIVPxinvestment.

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Since 2000, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group (formerly the HIV Vaccines & Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group) has employed a comprehensive methodology to track trends in research and development (R&D) investments and expenditures for biomedical HIV prevention options. AVAC leads the secretariat of the Working Group, that also includes the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This year’s report is additionally made possible by the support of several donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American people through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of AVAC and the Working Group and do not necessarily reflect the views of PEPFAR, USAID or the United States Government. AVAC does not accept funding from the pharmaceutical industry.

Putting Women at the Center: Informed choice in 2018 and beyond

We need to give women the choice to use DTG or not and to use contraception if indicated and desired. We need to support choices across options, with risk reduction—not use of a specific product—as the primary outcome. We need to give women the choice to use DMPA-IM or –SC or not, and to use HIV prevention as desired.

MPT Field Investments & Collaborations are Assets for Global Sexual Health

This post first appeared on the Initiative for MPTs’ blog.

Recently, on World Sexual Health Day, we at the IMPT reflect on how to work with partners to improve sexual health across the globe. There are many things that could be done, many different approaches, and many people we can work with towards this goal. Here, at the IMPT, we see multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) to be one such promising strategy with the potential to improve the sexual health – and lives – of women and their families across the globe.

Sexual and reproductive health risks, such as unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, are intrinsically interlinked. Yet, the current mix of prevention options has fallen short in protecting the sexual health of millions of women. The innovative work being done to advance prevention science, including the development of MPTs, is essential to better meet sexual health needs and improve countless lives. The price of innovation is steep and the time horizon is long, but the end result has the potential to be game changing.

Sustained investment in prevention science is crucial for both the roll-out of existing prevention methods, as well as the development of new and effective technologies, like MPTs. The IMPT, led by the IMPT Secretariat, has partnered with the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group to monitor investments that support MPTs and the wider field of HIV prevention on an annual basis.

Since its inception in 2004, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group, hereby referred to as the Working Group, has tracked US$17 billion of investments in biomedical HIV prevention research and analyzed funding trends across various prevention technologies, research stages, and sectors. This multi-tiered analysis of global investment flows is crucial for evaluating public policies, improving transparency, and furnishing facts for advocacy. As the HIV prevention toolbox has expanded, so has the mandate of the Working Group and the scope of our resource tracking efforts.

Substantial growth of the MPT pipeline coupled with an ever-present concern about the risk of STIs and unintended pregnancy in women, heralded the beginning of a partnership between the IMPT and the Working Group. From 2013 onwards, in a unique collaboration defined by a shared commitment to prevention science, knowledge and data-sharing, the IMPT and the Working Group have collated and analyzed close to US$142 million in funding for the advancement of MPT products. Expanding the scope of the Working Group’s original mandate, grants relevant to MPT R&D are also collected during the annual outreach to funders and implementers of HIV prevention science. This engenders a more efficient and streamlined method for data collection and the monitoring of field-wide investment trends.

Funding trends for MPT R&D reflect the rapid pace with which the field has grown – to cover two dozen new products and a 52 percent increase from 2013 levels when the resource tracking partnership began. While annual investments have averaged at US$37 million, overall funding dropped for the first time in 2016 by 14 percent to US$40 million. The US public sector remains the predominant funder of MPT research, primarily through the NIH and USAID, and accounting for 63 percent, 74 percent, and 67 percent of all overall investments in 2014, 2015, and 2016 respectively. Philanthropic investment in MPT research totaled US$4 million in 2016. Compared to the preceding year, private sector investment fell in 2016 and represented 10 percent of overall investment in MPT research.

The MPT field has seen a remarkable increase in investment in the last five years. However, the recent decrease in investment in prevention science, including MPTs, is concerning and should not be ignored. Advocates need to reinvigorate support for this important work and push for the investment needed to drive cutting edge and life changing science that will improve the sexual health of millions worldwide. The IMPT and the Working Group will continue to work together to monitor the progress of the fields and hope to see the needed resources committed to advancing prevention science and saving lives.

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Since 2000, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group (formerly the HIV Vaccines & Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group) has employed a comprehensive methodology to track trends in research and development (R&D) investments and expenditures for biomedical HIV prevention options. AVAC leads the secretariat of the Working Group, that also includes the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

More information about the growth and investment in the MPT field can be accessed in the 2017 IMPT Annual Report.

About the Authors
Fatima Riaz is the Program Coordinator for Research and Data Analytics at AVAC and has an MPH from Columbia University and a certification in Global Health Delivery from Harvard University. Her career started as a student health advocate in Pakistan where she founded and led a national polio advocacy campaign, and has since worked with the World Bank, the International Rescue Committee and UNICEF on diverse issues like WASH, violence prevention and maternal child health.

Kathryn Stewart is Deputy Director for CAMI/IMPT and has a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Berkeley with a special focus on maternal and child health. She also holds a BA in Politics and International Relations from Scripps College. Kathryn applies her 20-year experience in sexual and reproductive health prevention, policy, and research to coordinate a spectrum of projects aimed to advance the development and introduction of multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs).

CROI 2018: Highlights and what’s next for advocates

[UPDATED: slides and audio from our webinar series are now available below.]

Historically, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (more commonly known as CROI) is heavy on basic science and early-phase research. Data from these types of studies were still prominent in 2018 (see Jon Cohen’s excellent Science article on new animal data informing cure and vaccine research). This year the meeting also broadened its lens from the lab to the ways that different strategies are, or might, have an impact in the context of people’s complex lives.

Dapivirine Ring: Guess what, women use it when they know what works!

The dapivirine vaginal ring is a silicone ring containing an antiretroviral that is released slowly over time. It’s been designed to be worn by women for around a month. Two years ago, at CROI 2016, the ASPIRE and Ring Study results showed that the dapivirine vaginal ring is safe and reduces the risk of HIV infection by around 30 percent overall among women enrolled in the study. At CROI 2018, interim data from the open-label extension (OLE) trials of the ring—HOPE and DREAM—showed that the ring reduced risk by 50 percent. In the open-label studies, all participants have been given access to the dapivirine ring to use monthly for up to 12 months. There is no placebo and all participants are told about the safety and efficacy data. Presenting on behalf of the HOPE study team, Jared Baeten (MTN) remarked that the ring data are similar to the oral PrEP OLE data-in those studies too, people were more adherent once they knew the results from prior trials. Final data from HOPE and DREAM, including findings on how well it works in those who use it consistently, will be available in late 2018/early 2019.

What’s Next

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing available data on the ring under a framework that allows it to provide regulatory guidance for developing countries. Its decision is expected in late 2018. Will the world be ready with investments, introduction plans and advocacy? Experience to date says: only if advocates work at local, regional and global levels to demand advance planning and action.

Women’s Vaginas: They’re amazing and important to HIV (duh!)

A biome is a large naturally occurring group of plants or animals in a given habitat. The vaginal microbiome is the naturally occurring group of bacteria that live in women’s vaginas and-depending on the proportion of different bacteria present at a given time-keep us healthy or may make us uncomfortable or even put us at risk. The relationship between the vaginal microbiome and HIV acquisition has been a focus at several recent conferences. It was highlighted again in a plenary presentation at CROI.

Nichole Klatt (University of Washington) presented data on what happens when there is an imbalance between good and bad bacteria, a condition known as vaginal microbiome dysbiosis. When researchers looked at vaginal bacteria and different antiretrovirals in lab studies (in vitro), they found that microbiomes with an imbalance towards bad bacteria showed some degradation of topical tenofovir and dapivirine. In other words: it could be that women with such imbalances who are adherent to a vaginal microbicide or the dapivirine ring might still have lower levels of drug in their genital tissue than what is needed for adherence.

It’s incredibly important to understand how the microbiome impacts HIV risk and vaginal health, including the presence of topically applied ARV-based prevention. It’s also incredibly important to remember that these data do not say anything about how oral tenofovir-based PrEP works for women. Oral PrEP arrives in genital tract cells in completely different ways than topical PrEP. To date, data from the human trials of both oral PrEP and dapivirine ring haven’t shown any difference in effect in women with bacterial vaginosis, which is good news. Additional data will continue to shed light on this important and continuing story. And in the meantime, the take-home is still that oral PrEP works for women and that so far there has been no difference in levels of protection in the ring studies linked to dysbiosis.

What’s Next

Advocates need to be on the frontlines of explaining what these vaginal microbiome data do and don’t tell us. We can’t afford misinformation suggesting that oral PrEP doesn’t work in women. We also can’t afford to ignore the complexities of all bodies-female, male and trans-and how they impact prevention and treatment.

Pregnant and Post-Partum Women Need HIV Prevention

A presentation from Renee Heffron (University of Washington) provided more evidence that pregnant and post-partum women are at increased risk of HIV infection. She and colleagues analyzed data from two studies of over 2,700 serodifferent couples. They found that women who were pregnant or post-partum were 3-4 times more likely to acquire HIV. Implications for care and prevention include counseling, more testing, treatment for male partners and woman-controlled prevention options like oral PrEP.

What’s Next

2018 will see many discussions of pregnancy, contraceptives and HIV risk as the many stakeholders prepare for data from the ECHO trial. ECHO is looking at three different methods (DMPA, copper IUD and Jadelle implant) to see if any have an impact on women’s HIV risk. These data are an essential reminder that HIV risk is driven by many things-including pregnancy. Advocates need to push for PrEP in the ante- and post-natal context, contraceptive choice, programs that diagnose male partners and link them to effective ART-and more. Data and global and national guidelines on the use of oral PrEP (e.g., the WHO technical brief on preventing HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding in the context of PrEP) and the dapivirine ring for pregnant and post-partum women are essential.

PrEP Use Increases but Disparities Persist

Access to PrEP was woven throughout the CROI program, as data on PrEP programs and use continues to accumulate. Findings from San Francisco and Australia both showed a significant uptick in PrEP use and reduced infections (primarily in men who have sex with men) but across both of the studies racial and ethnic disparities in access remained largely unchanged. A new analysis from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also presented at CROI, found that two-thirds of those who could benefit from PrEP are African-American or Latino and yet prescriptions for these populations remain stubbornly low. Gaps in access were seen across racial groups but were most stark among non-white populations.

What’s Next

A continued fight for health equity as part of a broader social justice agenda in America-and around the world.

Undetectable=Untransmittable

In a meeting known for a focus on basic science, conversations about the Undetectable=Untransmittable campaign and its role in reducing stigma were frequent and welcomed. And for the first time there was a plenary session on mental health at which presenter Robert Remien (HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Columbia University) called for stepped up mental health services to achieve the 90-90-90 goals.

What’s Next

Advocates have consistently been at the frontlines of demanding a holistic approach to prevention and treatment—here’s more data to fuel the fight.

Products in the Pipeline

While there was an increased focus on implementation work this CROI, true to form the meeting also featured plenty on data from early-stage research. Among the hundreds of posters and oral abstract presentations a couple stood out including a non-ARV vaginal insert-designed to prevent HIV, HSV-2 and HPV infection-from PopCouncil and the long-acting ARV from Merck (MK-8591) to prevent HIV. Given favorable animal data, both products are being considered for clinical development.

What’s Next

A major scientific-literacy and agenda-setting push so that advocates can join researchers and product developers to guide decisions about how these trials will be designed and when and where they will happen.

Keep the Conversation Going

Join us for a post-CROI webinar series! Dig into the data with researchers and discuss with fellow advocates how these findings can inform our advocacy work moving forward. Register today!

And stay tuned for announcements on additional webinars!

Global HIV Prevention R&D Investment by Technology Category, 2000-2016

In 2016, funding for HIV prevention R&D decreased by 3 percent (US$35 million) from the previous year, falling to US$1.17 billion. Funding in 2016 signals the lowest annual investment in HIV prevention R&D in more than a decade.

Not To Be Missed: New report on funding for prevention research

The span of a decade—that interval that’s neither too long nor too short to bring innovation—is one that’s often used in the HIV prevention research space, usually to convey optimism. Back in 1997, then President Bill Clinton called for a national commitment to develop an AIDS vaccine within ten years. Just this week, Bill Gates said, “With the right leadership and investments over the next decade, we can discover and deliver a vaccine for HIV.”

The success of these forward-looking claims has always depended on sustained funding. Note, in both cases, the emphasis on commitment and leadership. No one is promising a vaccine with anything less. A look back at the last ten years provides a warning on this front. Released today, the Resource Tracking for HIV prevention R&D Working Group’s latest annual report on global investment into biomedical HIV prevention reports that overall funding for HIV prevention research and development (R&D) has remained essentially flat for over a decade.

Close followers of the annual “RT” report take note—a preliminary version was released at AIDS 2016 in Durban in July. The final version contains slightly updated data and the same overall messages: with a slight fall from US$1.25 billion in 2014 to US$1.20 billion in 2015, overall funding for HIV prevention research and development (R&D) has been more or less level for the past ten years.

And what a decade it’s been! Consider the developments in PrEP, the pipeline of injectable ARVs for prevention and treatment, the continued advance of the ARV-containing vaginal dapivirine ring, and the insights and advances that have come from sustained scientific inquiry related to the search for an HIV vaccine. These are exciting times. And the fact that all of this happened in the context of flat funding for research doesn’t mean that flat funding will get us where we need to go next. As Tom Hope, PhD (Northwestern University) stressed at an opening plenary of the HIV R4P conference where the report was launched, the fact that funding is declining concurrent with new discoveries is a major challenge for the field.

The report notes that preventive vaccine research funding constituted the bulk of all investments, followed by investments in microbicides, TasP, PMTCT, PrEP, VMMC and female condoms. With the exception of vaccines and female condoms, every other HIV prevention option tracked by the working group experienced a decline. These trends are somewhat reflective of the cyclical nature of large-scale clinical trials—when trials end, funding drops off. Likewise, as some interventions enter full scale rollout, like VMMC and TasP, research in this arena can be expected to slow down. Nevertheless, the overall trends bear close watching and strong advocacy to ensure that research continues.

The right products need to be tested in the populations who need them most. The report is also a powerful reminder that this isn’t necessarily how research works. It provides information on the demographic breakdown of almost 900,000 participants in ongoing HIV prevention trials in 2015, with the majority of these volunteers residing in sub-Saharan Africa, most notably Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. Only one in eight trial participants in 2015 belonged to a population most affected by HIV, including MSM and transgender women, injection drug users, and cisgender women.

These sobering facts come in the context of a vigorous period in research and development. It’s a time of growing recognition from the global community that research has to be part of the long-term fight to end the HIV epidemic. Taking stock of all that’s been accomplished with ten years of flat funding, now is the time to support continued progress with additional, well-targeted resources.

The Resource Tracking Working Group hopes that this tool provides strong facts for advocacy and supports efforts to assess public policy and its role in accelerating scientific progress. We thank all of the individuals who contributed data to the report and who gave time and effort as trial participants.

Check out the report, share it with your fellow advocates, and be sure to let us know if your organization is either a funder or recipient of HIV prevention grants or if you have further questions or information about resource tracking at all!

Press Release

A Decade of Flat Funding Could Imperil Progress of the HIV Prevention Research Pipeline

Contacts

AVAC: Kay Marshall, [email protected], +1-347-249-6375
IAVI: Arne Naeveke, [email protected], +1-212-847-1055

A PDF version of this press release is also available.

Report released at HIV Research for Prevention Conference highlights funding trends, opportunities and challenges for HIV prevention R&D

Chicago – A new report released today at the second HIV Research for Prevention Conference in Chicago documents 2015 funding, highlighting a decade of flat funding and its potential impact on continued innovation in the HIV prevention research and development (R&D) field.

The Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group’s (RTWG) 12th annual report, HIV Prevention Research & Development Investments, 2000-2015 Investment priorities to fund innovation in a challenging global health landscape, finds that funding for R&D of new and emerging prevention options decreased slightly in 2015. This was due in part to decreases from the US public sector and a downswing in global philanthropic funding.

Steady progress in R&D for AIDS vaccines, microbicides, pre-exposure prophylaxis using antiretroviral drugs (PrEP) and treatment as prevention (TasP) confirms science’s critical role in providing solutions to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet research for these badly-needed solutions is in danger of being slowed or even sidelined by inadequate funding.

“It is critical that investments into HIV prevention innovations, science and technology are scaled up to put us firmly on the Fast-Track to ending AIDS by 2030,” said Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director, UNAIDS.

In 2015, funders invested a total of US $1.20 billion across R&D, down from US $1.25 billion in 2014, across eight key areas: preventive AIDS vaccines, microbicides, PrEP using antiretroviral drugs, TasP, HSV-2 vaccines and operations research related to voluntary medical male circumcision, female condoms and prevention of vertical transmission.

The report also finds that investment is being made along all phases of the research pipeline but remains concentrated among a few large investors. A more diverse base of funders would increase the stability of R&D financing and cushion the impact if any of the major funders were to reduce their investments. To improve continuity, RTWG calls for a more balanced funding base, especially through support of new investment by European and low- and middle-income countries. The US public sector (primarily via the National Institutes of Health) remained the largest global contributor at US$850 million, accounting for 70 percent of total funding. Together the US government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest philanthropic funder, accounted for 81 percent of all funding in 2015.

“There is now very strong momentum in research and development, and we need to expedite the development of vaccine strategies and other new, biomedical prevention options that promise to be safe, accessible and effective for use throughout the world,” said Mark Feinberg, President and CEO of IAVI. “There must be adequate and sustained investment at all stages from early laboratory research and to clinical testing if we are to truly be able to contain the HIV pandemic and approach and end to AIDS.”

This is indeed a time of great optimism for HIV prevention research. Daily oral PrEP is gaining traction as a new prevention option in an increasing number of countries; an antiretroviral-based microbicide ring that showed modest efficacy earlier in 2016 will be further evaluated to determine its viability as a prevention option for women; large-scale efficacy trials of an AIDS vaccine candidate and an injectable form of PrEP are slated to begin soon and a novel proof-of-concept trial of antibody-mediated prevention is underway in several countries. Many more promising candidates in earlier stages are progressing toward pre-clinical and clinical evaluation.

Importantly, 2015 saw increasing investment in the science of delivery – or implementation research – primarily focused on delivery of TasP interventions. Such investments will become even more important to help ensure new prevention options move quickly and efficiently into prevention programs and begin to have an impact on HIV infection rates. There is also an increasing understanding that research must understand and integrate the needs and desires of people who will eventually use new prevention options. Ensuring that the perspective of those for whom new prevention options are being developed is included from the beginning of the research process can help ensure that safe and effective products can be rolled out swiftly and be more fully accepted.

“Innovative science needs innovative funding,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC Executive Director. “We need an expanded and more diverse global cadre of funders who will be involved in and dedicated to advancing HIV prevention R&D, including product delivery. And these investments need to ensure that new options like daily oral PrEP, and potentially the dapivirine vaginal ring, do not sit on the shelf unused because we don’t know how to effectively deliver them, and that future R&D better meets the needs and wants of those for whom products are developed.”

The report and infographics on prevention research investment are online at www.hivresourcetracking.org and on social media with #HIVPxinvestment.

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Since 2000, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention R&D Working Group (formerly the HIV Vaccines & Microbicides Resource Tracking Working Group) has employed a comprehensive methodology to track trends in research and development (R&D) investments and expenditures for biomedical HIV prevention options. AVAC leads the secretariat of the Working Group, that also includes the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). This year’s report is additionally made possible by the support of several donors, including IAVI, UNAIDS, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American people through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of AVAC and the Working Group and do not necessarily reflect the views of PEPFAR, USAID or the United States Government.

MPT Product Development: Many possibilities for MPT development

This table shows the indication (prevention effect the product is designed to have—e.g., pregnancy or one or more STIs) the way it will be delivered (e.g., through vaginal gel, pill or injection), how it might work to provide preventive effect (for example, as a physical barrier to prevent fluid exchange or as a hormonal contraceptive) and what kind of dosage could be possible (e.g., daily pill or application, sustained through the blood or around sex).
Excerpted from the MPTs factsheet.

ARV-Based Prevention Pipeline

The pipeline of ARV-based prevention products includes oral pills, vaginal rings, vaginal and rectal gels, vaginal films, long-acting injectable ARVs. Not pictured are a range of multipurpose technologies in development that aim to reduce women’s risk of HIV and STIs, and provide effective contraception.

Biomedical Prevention in 2016 – At a Glance

A snapshot of prevention strategies underway or under development from 2015-2020. Excerpted from AVAC Report 2016: Big Data, Real People.