History of Microbicides

The Microbicide Timeline¹

• 1987: USAID receives NICHD funds for contraception and HIV sexual transmission
• 1992: ICPD Plan of Action calls for development of "virucides" to protect women against HIV and other STIs; Topical Microbicides Meeting sponsored by Population Council
• 1993: Secretary Shalala identifies $10M for the NIH Topical Microbicide Initiative; 1st Topical Microbicides Workshop sponsored by NIH and FDA
• 1994: 1st inclusion of microbicides in US House and Senate report language; IWGM established; Topical Microbicides Initiative described in NIH response to UN Cairo document
• 1995: NIAID Preclinical Guidelines completed
• 1997: IWGM publishes Recommendations for Clinical Development of Microbicides; DHHS Secretary Shalala at International Conference on AIDS/Vancouver commits to spend $25M per year on microbicides over next 4 years
• 1998: Global Campaign for Prevention Options for Women launched; Alliance for Microbicide Development founded; 1st and 2nd meetings held
• 2000: Preliminary data from COL-1492 study at 13^th International AIDS Conference Durban, South Africa; 1st major international scientific conference, Microbicides 2000, held in Washington, DC; Gates donates $25M to CONRAD, Global Microbicide Project established
• 2001: Gates donates $20M to Population Council; Epicyte awarded $500k NIH/SBIR grant; Crompton and Biosyn sign licensing agreement for UC-781
• 2002: 2nd major international scientific conference, Microbicides 2002, held in Antwerp, Belgium; International Partnership for Microbicides launched; WHO and CONRAD release Nonoxynol-9 report; Gates awards $28M to UCSF for diaphragm study
• 2003: Gates donates $60M to International Partnership for Microbicides; Alliance convenes 7^th annual meeting; FDA Advisory Committee Meeting on clinical trial design
• 2004: 3rd major international scientific conference, Microbicides 2004, held in London, UK; Microbicide Donors Committee and Quick Working Group established
• 2006: 4^th major international scientific conference, Microbicides 2006, held in Cape Town, South Africa
• 2007: FHI and CONRAD phase 3 trials of cellulose sulfate stopped early; Results announced for phase 3 trial of the female diaphragm to prevent HIV infection in women
• 2008: 5^th major international scientific conference, Microbicides 2008, held in Delhi, India; Results released from Population Council phase 3 trial of Carraguard®

  A detailed history of the inception and expansion of microbicide research and development is provided in Harrison PF, Lamphear TL. Microbicides. In: Mayer KH, Pizer HF, eds. The AIDS Pandemic: Impact on Science and Society. Elsevier Academic Press; 2005: 190-235.

  The following external resources also provide insight into the history and future direction of microbicide development:

  • Microbicides: History of Research, 1989-Present (Population Council)
  • HIV Prevention Research: A Comprehensive Timeline (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition)
  • History of N-9 Testing (Global Campaign for Microbicides)

  ---

  ¹ Harrison PF, Lamphear TL. Microbicides. In: Mayer KH, Pizer HF, eds. The AIDS Pandemic: Impact on Science and Society. Elsevier Academic Press; 2005: 190-235.