Gates Foundation Gives $100 Million for Anti-HIV Gels

The global quest for a vaginal gel or similar product to fight HIV infection received a big boost this week from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which announced a $100 million donation to the Maryland-based International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM).

"Safe and effective microbicides have the potential to save millions of lives by giving women an HIV prevention option that they can initiate and control," IPM said in a statement. "IPM will bring pioneering HIV prevention technologies into 10 new clinical studies this year, including long-acting vaginal gels and vaginal rings that could provide sustained protection for up to a month."

In addition, the British government on Tuesday announced a $30 million contribution to IPM.

These donations follow good news recently reported by the US National Institutes of Health. NIH said a Phase II clinical trial of the microbicide candidate PRO2000, which is based on some of the same antiretrovirals used to treat HIV patients, had proved 30 percent more effective than other products in preventing HIV infection. Results of a Phase III trial of the gel involving 9,400 women in Africa are expected in August.

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