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CROI 2015: Tenofovir Vaginal Gel Not Effective Overall Against HIV [VIDEO]

The FACTS 001 trial evaluating a vaginal microbicide gel containing tenofovir did not show overall effectiveness for preventing HIV infection among young women in South Africa, although the product did appear to provide some protection for women who were able to use it consistently, according to a presentation at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) last week in Seattle.

[Helen Rees, CROI, February 24, 2015]

The results were "very disappointing," lead investigator Helen Rees from Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute in Johannesburg said at a CROI press conference discussing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) studies. There was "no difference in the outcome between tenofovir gel arm and the placebo arm," with 4% HIV incidence in both group. This was youngest group ever studied in a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial, and "being single and young puts you at very high risk...the majority may not be able to achieve sufficiently high levels of gel use required for protection."

SEE ALSO: Disappointing Result for Tenofovir Gel Microbicide

3/3/15

Reference

H Rees, S Delany-Moretlwe, C Lombard, et al. FACTS 001 Phase III Trial of Pericoital Tenofovir 1% Gel for HIV Prevention in Women. 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Seattle, February 23-24, 2015. Abstract 26LB.