Development of a live topical microbicide for women

Results The CV-N-producing L. jensenii retained important characteristics of the native bacterial phenotype and secreted high levels of full-length CV-N that completely inhibited the infectivity of CCR5-tropic HIVBaL in vitro, with an IC50 near 1 nM. We further demonstrated that this strain was capable of association with epithelial cells in the vaginal lumen of CD-1 mice, and expressed CV-N in vivo in this model and when cultured in cervicovaginal lavage fluid of pigtailed macaques. We are evaluating potential regulatory issues, bacterial formulations, vaginal colonization, in situ CV-N expression, and host immunological responses in non-human primate models. Conclusion This work represents a major step towards the development of a simple, cost-effective, female-controlled preventative against heterosexual transmission of HIV.