Biomedical Prevention Implementation Collaborative (BioPIC)

BioPIC is pioneering an integrated and adaptable approach to introducing new HIV prevention products to people who need them, with a focus on injectable cabotegravir (CAB) for PrEP.

Overview: Why Now?

The HIV response needs coordination and innovation in product delivery now.

The HIV prevention products that exist today hold the potential to curb incidence. But knowledgeable observers, drawing lessons from the slow roll out and low uptake of oral PrEP in the early years of its availability, know that coordination must be intensified. Without it, highly efficacious products never reach the populations that need it. 

About the Project

The BioPIC collaboration involves civil society, donors, researchers, policy makers, implementers and normative agencies such as WHO and UNAIDS, is made possible through the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and was established in partnership with AVAC, CHAI and ViiV Healthcare.

The BioPIC Framework

BioPIC developed the Adaptable Product Introduction Framework for all stakeholders involved in product introduction, from clinical research to rollout in low- and middle-income countries. The framework prioritizes activities that must begin in parallel to phase III clinical trials. Stakeholders with a role in early phase product development may also benefit from these considerations with better coordination around anticipated needs.

BioPIC Priorities

Plan to provide global and national bodies with needed evidence on safety and efficacy:

• Plan in advance to obtain safety data for pregnant and breastfeeding women
• Plan in advance and bolster systems to monitor resistance 
• Conduct research for additional populations not included in clinical trials
• Streamline regulatory review and development of normative guidance 

Understand resource needs and the impact of CAB-LA: 

• Model impact in different country contexts 
• Build consensus and methodology for monitoring, target-setting and evaluation
• Conduct cost and payer analyses to inform budgeting
• Coordinate and align product procurement 

Enable programs to quickly move from small projects to scale: 

• Analyze delivery channel to identify opportunities and challenges prior to early implementation projects 
• Support the development guidance and tools at the earliest stage of implementation. 
• Consolidate implementation questions in fewer, larger-scale projects 

Identify methods to support high uptake and continued use: 

• Engage and build community mechanisms to refine program design and implementation 
• Conduct human-centered design research to understand factors that encourage or inhibit uptake and continued use, tailored for providers, communities, and priority populations

BioPIC Think Tanks

An ongoing series of think tanks, conducted by BioPIC, are generating key insights for people-centered product delivery. Coordinating Implementation Science for CAB for PrEP

• Focus on Research and Surveillance during Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
• Focus on Delivery Models
• Generating Demand for HIV Biomedical Prevention in the Era of Choice
• Focus on Planning for Implemenation Studies
• Modelling the Impact of Injectable CAB for PrEP on Drug Resistance
• HIV Testing and Injectable CAB for PrEP Introduction: What are the implications for HIV prevention scale-up and the HIV response?
• Product Introduction/Implementation Project Planning for Next-Generation PrEP

More Information

Find details on each topic including reports, findings and additional resources on PrEPwatch.org’s dedicated BioPIC page, featuring an archive of past think tanks. Visit PrEPWatch.org events for upcoming think tanks.

For additional assistance, reach out to Cat Verde Hashim at catherine@avac.org.