SA joins EU research on developing microbicides to stop transmission of HIV

July 2005

A Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) research project investigating and developing new microbicides for the prevention of HIV infection has completed its first year of research. The project, known as the European Microbicides Project (EMPRO) comprises 25 partner organisations spread throughout Europe and Africa and will take four more years to complete.

New HIV infection figures continue to rise, particularly in the developing areas of the world. EMPRO is developing compounds - called microbicides - to be used to prevent infection with HIV during sexual intercourse in efforts to slow down the HIV epidemic. A microbicide is an anti-infective medication formulated for topical administration before intercourse to protect against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Six scientists at South Africa's Stellenbosch University are part of the EMPRO team, which aims to render a product that will block the HIV virus before it gets to work. The FP6 funding is reported to be the largest commitment of funds to this kind of work and will be shared among the consortium of universities, research institutes and biotechnology companies.

Leader of the Stellenbosch group of scientists and head of the University's Pharmacology Department, Professor Pieter van der Bijl, explains that generating drugs is one thing, getting them into the body, another. He says the passage of drugs across biological membranes has been studied for almost a decade.

The project is looking at new ways of introducing drugs to the body, specifically through the mucosa or lining of the vagina and rectum. The work package of the Stellenbosch group relates specifically to the passage of HIV across vaginal and rectal membranes.

The project is funded by the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) under its "Thematic Priority One" for "Biotechnology and Genomics for Health." The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has also afforded Stellenbosch University funding to support the University's participation in EMPRO, under the DST's FP6 Strategic Co-Investment Instrument.