Funding Grows for Red Algae Formula as HIV Preventive 27913

Funding Grows for Red Algae Formula as HIV Preventive

NEW YORK--There are great things expected from a gelmade of red algae, a topical formula which may lower the risk of HIV infectionin women. Among those who expect great things, according to the Jan. 31 editionof The Wall Street Journal, is the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation (www.gatesfoundation.org), which will be announcing this weekend amulti-million dollar grant to help fund this research. If the amount is anythinglike the foundation's last monetary gift--$100 million for AIDS and HIVresearch--the researchers studying this compound will not have money problemsfor a while. This is not the first time this red algae formulation has beengiven a grant; previously, the Foundation gave $4.45 million to study themicrobicide's effects on contraception.

This funding may prove invaluable for the future of HIV prevention. If thisgrant goes through, it will significantly increase the $6.8 million grantawarded to the Population Council in November 2001 from the U.S. NationalInstitute of Child Health and Human Development. According to amfAR, a leadingAIDS research organization, government research for microbicides is estimated tobe $49 million, only one-tenth the amount it spends on HIV vaccine researchalone.

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

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

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