An intra-vaginal ring implanted with anti-retroviral drug tablets, or pods, has demonstrated sustained and controlled drug release and safety over 28 days, reports [s]Science Daily[/s]. The ring, designed to prevent transmission of HIV, was tested in macaque monkeys and is engineered to be inexpensive. The ring is a simple, unmedicated, impermeable elastomer scaffold on which the investigators implanted polymer-coated drug tablets, each containing a different drug. These deliver the drug directly to the vaginal mucosa, via channels in the elastomer ring, which exposes the pods to vaginal fluids. An additional requirement was that the ring must not trigger immune defences, and their associated inflammation, as that could encourage HIV infection.
[link url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140702140633.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_health+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Health+News%29]Full Science Daily report[/link]
[link url=http://aac.asm.org/content/early/2014/06/11/AAC.02871-14]Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy abstract[/link]