ARA CURRENT RESEARCH INITIATIVE

ARA Current Research Initiative
AIDS Research Alliance conducts research to find more effective treatment options for people living with HIV/AIDS. We look for medical interventions to stop the spread of HIV, such as vaccines and microbicides. And most importantly, AIDS Research seeks to cure AIDS.
In this way, the cornerstones of our research advance HIV prevention and HIV eradication:

• Prostratin: Eliminating HIV reservoirs and curing AIDS
  
• Microbicides: A new HIV prevention strategy
  

Prostratin: A new approach targeting hidden HIV-infected cells
Prostratin (Prostratin FAQ) (Prostratin on Wikipedia) is a compound initially isolated as the active ingredient of extracts of the tropical plant, homalanthus nutan. The plant is used in traditional Western Samoan herbal medicine to treat infections, like “yellow fever” (i.e., hepatitis). The U.S. National Cancer Institutes found that prostratin has powerful anti-HIV activities.
AIDS Research Alliance believes prostratin is an important candidate for further development as an anti-HIV drug targeting viral reservoirs. We know that HIV infection continues in spite of today’s HAART therapy. Our pre-clinical studies strongly suggest that prostratin could flush HIV from the reservoirs where infected CD4 lay dormant, hiding from the reach of even the most powerful anti-HIV treatments.

AIDS Research Alliance was granted an exclusive license by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop prostratin as an anti-HIV drug targeting viral reservoirs. AIDS Research Alliance was next awarded an NIH grant under the NIH-Development of AIDS Related Therapeutics Program (NIH-DART) to perform pre-clinical studies for prostratin.

Now, AIDS Research Alliance has signed an agreement with a major Contract Research Organization to conduct the remaining pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies of prostratin required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start testing it in human phase I studies.

This year, ARA continues to work collaboratively with researchers across the country to advance this landmark and pioneering line of research. AIDS Research Alliances hopes to complete all of the necessary pre-clinical studies on prostratin by the beginning of 2010, clearing the way for human clinical trials.

If the scientists at AIDS Research Alliance are correct about prostratin, prostratin will revolutionize HIV therapy. Working in combination with HAART therapy, prostratin could be the “one-two” punch we need to eradicate HIV from the body.

Microbicides: Taking Charge of Prevention
Every day nearly 7000 people become newly infected with HIV across the globe.
Worldwide, 88% of all HIV transmission involves heterosexual intercourse.
In the U.S., sexual contact accounts for 53% of new infections.
More than 50% of HIV infected individuals are women

To control – and eventually stop – the spread of HIV, we need to find ways to stop the sexual transmission of the virus.
Currently, the male condom is the only widely available barrier against sexual transmission of HIV. When used correctly, condoms can prevent transmission of HIV. But we know that people can’t – or won’t – always use condoms.

More HIV prevention methods – especially those that put women in control – are vital to controlling the spread of HIV. Unlike condoms, an HIV microbicide can be used without the cooperation or knowledge of one’s sexual partner. This would offer women (and men) an additional effective prevention option.

What is a microbicide?

• A substance that can reduce transmission of STDs (e.g., herpes simplex virus, HIV) when applied in the vagina or rectum.
  
• A substance that could come in many forms, including gels, creams, suppositories, films, lubricants.
  
• A substance that might protect against HIV in a variety of ways, such as
  
  • Killing HIV on contact
    
  • Creating a physical barrier around vulnerable cells, or
    
  • Strengthening the body’s normal defenses.
    

Progress and Promise
AIDS Research Alliance is working on two microbicide studies as a possible prevention strategy. The idea behind microbicides isn’t new. Women have used topical solutions from lemon juice to soap for generations to try to prevent pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).Current Clinical Trials

1. Women’s attitude toward microbicide and clinical trials
AIDS Research Alliance and UCLA are conducting a study with women of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds to study their lubricant use, sexual behaviors and attitudes towards participating in clinical research. This study will help researchers develop a user-friendly microbicide. We will also better understand what challenges we might face in recruiting volunteer participation in future microbicide trials. Current Clinical Trials

2. Microbicide Development Program (MDP)
While vaginal microbicide development is already advanced both in the United States and abroad (with several Phase III efficacy trials currently underway in Africa), rectal microbicide development is still in its infancy. AIDS Research Alliance and UCLA are conducting a study in Baltimore and Los Angeles to develop the first rectal microbicide. This study will help researchers understand rectal health, lubricant use during anal intercourse, and sexual behavior in HIV positive and negative male and female participants.Current Clinical Trials

From these two microbicide studies, we hope to learn enough about the way women and men use lubricants so that we can create a microbicide product that people would be willing to use.