Microbicides for the Treatment of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections

Table 1

Key events and predictions in the development of microbicides.

Year	Key events and predictions in the development of microbicides
In 1981	Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was identified.
In 1983	Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was defined as causative agent.
In 1985–1988	Nonoxynol-9 was reported to destroy HIV in vitro.
In 1992	Nonoxynol-9 was applied vaginally in the macaque monkey to reduce the risk of infection.
In 1994	International working group on microbicides established Contraceptive Research and Development Program (CONRAD), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Food and Drug Administration, and US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to facilitate global coordination of microbicide development.
In 1997	Nonsurfactant class of microbicides was shown to be safe and acceptable after phase I clinical trials in female volunteers.
In 1998	Phase III trials of nonoxynol-9 show no protection against HIV.
In 2000	First major international conference was devoted to microbicides.
In 2001	Promising microbicides entered phase II clinical trials to verify safety and acceptability.
In 2002	WHO report on nonoxynol-9 concludes that nonoxynol-9 should not be used for HIV/STI prevention.
In 2003-2004	Microbicides expected to enter phase III trials for effectiveness against HIV.
In 2007	First-generation microbicides showed; 50–60% effective against HIV.
In 2008	Researchers discovered that long chain polyanionic compounds could prevent in vitro HIV infection by preventing HIV entry into target cells through nonspecific inhibition of viral binding.
In 2010	Acid buffering gels could be used to lower vaginal pH and inactivate HIV and were shown to be safe in clinical trials.
In 2012-13	CAPRISA 008, a planned follow-on study to CAPRISA 004, which would evaluate the effectiveness of distributing 1% tenofovir gel in communities where CAPRISA 004 took place, was launched in 2012. Results from the facts 001 trial for 1% tenofovir gel are expected in 2013.