Researchers at Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne have developed a silicone vaginal ring to deliver hydrophilic molecules of tenofovir (the molecule active against the most common strain of HIV) and acyclovir (the molecule effective against herpes virus). This ring would protect women most at risk of catching the aids virus or a sexually transmitted infection.
The main difficulty in creating this ring, which was just presented at the 55th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Diego (USA), was that silicone is a hydrophobic compound. This problem has been circumvented by adding a hydrophilic compound to the silicone, which allows drugs to be released from reservoirs.
“Some rings are able to release drug concentrations of 1.5-3.5 mg / day for acyclovir and 3-5 mg / day for tenofovir, for up to 50 days,” explained Meriam Memmi , lead author of the study. Such doses are able to prevent viral STIs such as HIV-1 infection, hepatitis B and genital herpes.
“It is difficult for women to master the prevention of STIs since condom use is mainly under the control of men,” added Meriam Memmi. “The advantage of vaginal rings is that they can be inserted and removed by the woman herself.”
It now remains to set up clinical trials. Then large-scale commercialization at the lowest cost should be explored.
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