A drug-laced vaginal ring that gives women more control over potential HIV infection can help safely prevent the disease, according to results from two long-awaited studies.
The ring, which contains the antiretroviral drug dapivirine, helped prevent infection in about a third of women overall — and in more than half of women ages 22 and older who used the devices faithfully.
That’s according to the first large, late-stage clinical trials to show that a long-acting microbicide can help halt HIV-1. Results were publiches on Monday.
One study, dubbed ASPIRE, was conducted through the US National Institutes of Health’s Microbicide Trials Network and led by Dr Jared Baeten, vice chairman of global health in the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. A second piece of research, called The Ring Study was led by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides, or IPM.
“I’m really optimistic about the results,” Baetten said. “To see statistically significant HIV protection is a great step forward.”
Results of both studies, which were conducted in Africa, were presented Monday at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.
In the ASPIRE study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, use of the ring reduced risk of HIV infection by 27 per cent overall. It reduced infection by about 56 per cent in women older than 21, who appeared to use the device more consistently, the study showed. The Ring Study also showed a higher effect — 37 per cent—for women older than 21, IPM officials reported.