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CONRAD receives $100
million for microbicide development
September 8, 2008
![[photo]](images/Gabelnick_Henry.jpg) |
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Henry Gabelnick, Ph.D., executive
director of CONRAD |
NORFOLK, VA — EVMS received the largest grant in the school’s
history September 8 when the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
awarded the school’s CONRAD (Contraceptive Research and Development)
program $100 million to continue its development work on microbicides.
CONRAD facilitates the development of affordable products and methods
that provide contraception and/or prevent the sexual transmission of
HIV/AIDS and other infections. The program is a component of the
EVMS Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The unprecedented award follows a $28.5 million grant last fall from the
Gates Foundation, also for continued microbicide research and
development. To date, USAID has awarded a total of $160 million to
CONRAD for microbicide research.
Microbicides are products in development that will eventually come in a
variety of forms, such as topical gels, creams, tablets, films and pills to prevent
sexual transmission of HIV and potentially other
sexually transmitted infections. Effective microbicides could be an
important HIV prevention option for women, who account for approximately
half of all people living with HIV globally.
“We are grateful to USAID for their continued support,” said Henry
Gabelnick, Ph.D., executive director of CONRAD. “They have been our
champions since the beginning of CONRAD over twenty years ago.
“This Cooperative Agreement will support five years of research for a
variety of studies that will advance progress toward a successful
microbicide, with a focus on continued clinical testing of several
microbicide candidates in trials, including tenofovir gel which is
currently in a Phase IIb trial in South Africa, and UC781 which is
currently undergoing safety studies at several sites here and abroad.”
One of CONRAD’S accomplishments is the establishment of the capacity to
take a novel biomarker from discovery to clinical validation. Biomarkers
are biochemical substances that can be used to measure the progress of
disease or the effects of treatment. CONRAD is currently developing new
biomarkers of cervicovaginal inflammation and new biomarkers of vaginal
exposure to semen, which will indicate whether intercourse unprotected
by condoms took place.
If a biomarker of HIV transmission can be found to measure the likely
efficacy of a candidate microbicide before thousands of women are
enrolled in a Phase III trial, the benefit to the microbicide field as a
whole will be great, Gabelnick said, adding that USAID’s continued
financial support of this research is critical.
“CONRAD has particular expertise in preclinical and early clinical
research, and we are glad to see the new agreement focused on this
aspect of microbicide development,” said Dr. Judy Manning with USAID.
“Given USAID’s particular concern for the health of women in developing
countries, we are very excited about CONRAD’s intention to develop
combination products that protect not only against HIV, but also other
sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.”
Even if the first microbicide that is approved is not 100 percent
effective, modeling studies suggest that it could still have a major
impact on public health, provided it is used in combination with other
HIV prevention methods.
CONRAD has laboratories and a clinical research center in Norfolk. The
main office is located in Arlington, with additional offices in Atlanta,
Ga., and West Chester, Pa. |
