This was revealed yesterday by Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim, one of the researchers who conducted the trial of the microbicide gel under the banner of the Centre for the AIDS programme of Research in SA (Caprisa)
A factory site to manufacture tenofovir gel has already been identified on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast by a public-private company, Professor Abdool Karim told a high level scientific meeting convened in Durban to assess Caprisa’s scientific outputs.
A number of trials are also planned to support the first trial, which found that the infection rate among the women who received the tenofovir microbicide was 39% lower than those who did not get the gel.
A large trial currently underway in a number of African countries will compare the efficacy of tenofovir gel with tenofovir tablets, as well as comparing tenofovir with another ARV called Truvada.
Caprisa is also waiting for permission to run an implentation trial to see how the tenofovir microbicide can be integrated into normal family planning services.
It also aims to run a trial to look at whether women who have used the tenofovir gel will develop resistance to the medicine, which would have implications for them should they become HIV positive.
However, an interrogation of the results by Caprisa scientists over the past year has raised even more questions.
Dr Vivek Naranbhai reported that the women who became infected with HIV during the trial had a relatively high level of vaginal inflammation. He suggested that it would be important to see whether anti-inflammatories could assist to reduce HIV transmission.
His colleague, Dr Sengeziwe Sibeko reported that it was possible that the tenofovir gel had only protected women if their partners had relatively low viral load in their semen.
‘Certainly we urgently need further research to see whether this is the case, but unfortunately we don’t have the funds yet to do so,’ said Sibeko.
Meanwhile, Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor complimented Caprisa for its research prowess.
‘I am so tired of Africa being a recipient of things,’ said Pandor. ‘We need to become a source of solutions. We need to move beyond being a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy.’
She added that she was working to encourage a bio-technology economy in South Africa along the lines of India and Brazil.
‘We have set aside land in the Western Cape for a biotechnology park, supported by government,’ said Pandor.
