Funding Grows for Red Algae Formula as HIV Preventive

NEW YORK--There are great things expected from a gel made of red algae, a topical formula which may lower the risk of HIV infection in women. Among those who expect great things, according to the Jan. 31 edition of The Wall Street Journal, is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org), which will be announcing this weekend a multi-million dollar grant to help fund this research. If the amount is anything like the foundation's last monetary gift--$100 million for AIDS and HIV research--the researchers studying this compound will not have money problems for a while. This is not the first time this red algae formulation has been given a grant; previously, the Foundation gave $4.45 million to study the microbicide's effects on contraception.

This funding may prove invaluable for the future of HIV prevention. If this grant goes through, it will significantly increase the $6.8 million grant awarded to the Population Council in November 2001 from the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. According to amfAR, a leading AIDS research organization, government research for microbicides is estimated to be $49 million, only one-tenth the amount it spends on HIV vaccine research alone.

The group behind this possibly life-saving product is the Population Council (www.popcouncil.org), a nonprofit research institution founded in 1952 by John D. Rockefeller III. It will be studying how the red algae-derived microbicide may lower the risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV, herpes and gonorrhea. In 1986, the Council began to research which microbicidal compounds may halt the transmission of HIV and other STDs. After years of research, Carraguard(TM)became the Council's top candidate as a microbicide that may stop sexually transmitted infections. Carraguard is a carrageenan-based gel developed at the Council's Center for Biomedical Research and which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). (Commonly, it is used as a thickener in foods and as an emulsifier in topical creams and lotions.) Now, carrageenan may block infection from HIV, HPV and gonorrhea, as has been shown in in vitro and in vivo studies.

A Phase III effectiveness trial is scheduled to begin later this year and will last for approximately four years. According to WSJ, the study is designed to follow 6,000 HIV-negative women who are separated into three groups: women who use 4 mL of Carraguard, women who use a placebo gel and women who use no gel. The women will also be given condoms and will be counseled on how to use them.

The Council is also responsible for some other well-known products on the market today, including the Copper T intrauterine device (IUD) and Norplant(R).