Results from the three-arm HIV prevention trial VOICE – Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic – were recently presented at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. The data showed that none of three interventions tested—daily oral tenofovir, daily oral TDF/FTC (Truvada), and daily 1% vaginal tenofovir gel—provided additional protection against HIV in this study, likely because few of the women in the trial used the products as directed.

This global advocates’ webinar included a presentation of the data from VOICE co-principal investigator Jeanne Marrazzo followed by a moderated discussion, which included clarifying questions around the trial itself as well as discussion of the implications these results have for ongoing and planned HIV prevention research and implementation.

PrEP researchers discussed ongoing trials of new oral PrEP interventions, including non-daily regimens (also described as “intermittent PrEP”) and new drugs such as maraviroc.

Principal investigators Bob Grant (ADAPT), Ken Mayer (NEXT-PrEP), Sheena McCormack (PROUD) and Jean-Michel Molina (ANRS Ipergay) joined the call. Their trials all seek to answer questions about strategies other than daily oral TDF/FTC and will provide important information on potential “second generation” oral PrEP.

The United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) is set for September 30 – October 3, 2012 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. For nearly two decades, USCA has sought “to increase the strength and diversity of the community-based response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through education, training, new partnerships, collaboration and networking. This year, USCA will work to highlight the changes in our movement that have brought us closer than ever to ending the epidemic, and ways that we can move forward as a community to make this dream a reality.

To accomplish this, NMAC and its program partners are adjusting the format of this year’s conference to ensure that attendees get the most out of their experience. Day-long institutes, historically held on the first day of the conference, will be replaced by the first ever Summit to End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America. And in order to make the agenda more flexible, seminars will be held each day of the conference and the length of workshop and roundtable sessions will be shortened so that attendees can maximize their learning experience.

USCA Presentation: PrEP can protect women and men against HIV! What do we need to know and do so we can translate results into public health impact?

Representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, the British HIV Association and the British Association for Sexual Health and Gilead Sciences will discuss various guidelines on the use of and FDA approval of daily TDF/FTC as PrEP.

This webinar will familiarize advocates with the types of regulatory and normative guidance documents that exist on PrEP—what they say, who they affect and what they may mean for policy and programming in various countries.

The Los Angeles County PrEP Workgroup and AVAC’s PxROAR program presented the webinar The Doc is In: Prescribing, Managing and Billing for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for HIV Prevention. This webinar aimed to address some of the key issues around PrEP prescribing, such as concerns around drug resistance, cost and reimbursement, risk assessment and side effects, among others.

We were joined by Dr. Nika Seidman and Shannon Weber from the Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center, and Dr. Tony Mills, a general medicine practitioner specializing in HIV care in Los Angeles.

View the full webinar here.

The US Women and PrEP Working Group held a webinar to discuss the latest in research and rollout of PrEP for women in the US. To learn more about the US Women and PrEP Working Group (and hear about upcoming webinars), visit www.prepwatch.org.

AVAC and the Harm Reduction Coalition organized a teleconference to discuss the recent results of the Bangkok Tenofovir Study, a Thai trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis in injecting drug users.

Presentations were followed by a Q&A session. Questions unanswered during the webinar are addressed in a supporting document, available here.

Also worth checking out, Beyond the Hype: PrEP for people who inject drugs by Daniel Wolfe.