Keykavous Parang, an associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in URI's College of Pharmacy, and his team are developing anti-HIV-1 microbicides with or without spermicidal activity by combining agents having different mechanisms of action.
Some of the microbicides are in pre-clinical studies, according to Parang.
Newswise quoted the professor as saying, "Women face a greater risk of acquiring HIV and are 4 to 17 times more likely to contract HIV because of economic, social and biological factors. So there is an urgent need to develop a safe over-the-counter intravaginal/intrarectal microbicide for prevention of HIV transmission in women."
Parang's research, which is being done in collaboration with Eastern Virginia Medical School's Clinical Research Center, is funded by a $288,000 grant from the Contraceptive Research and Development Program.
Parang is also involved in an American Cancer Society project to develop a compound that inhibits the cell protein called Src, the overproduction of which causes breast cancer in women. He is also developing a compound, which could lead to anti-viral medicines effective against HIV.
