Merck has agreed to provide the International Partnership for Microbicides with its experimental antiretroviral drug L'644 to develop a microbicide that could protect women against HIV, the partnership announced on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Fox, Reuters, 3/11). Microbicides include a range of products -- such as gels, films and sponges -- that could help prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other infections (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/26). L'644 is a member of a class of drugs known as gp41 fusion inhibitors, which block HIV from attaching to immune system cells.
IPM's CEO Zeda Rosenberg said L'644 is the sixth antiretroviral to be tested by the group. "It's a completely different mechanism of action to what we have currently under development and what the field has under development," she said, adding, "It's pretty early in the life cycle for HIV.
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