Pfizer is set to license its HIV drug Selzentry to a nonprofit research group, which will attempt to reformulate the therapy so it can be used to prevent the spread of the disease. Preventing HIV has been an elusive goal in the development world, most notably with the recent high profile failure of Merck's vaccine program. Now International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) will have a chance to reformulate Selzentry as a vaginal gel, ring or film that can prevent the spread of the lethal virus that triggers AIDS. Selzentry has inspired hopes for a preventive approach to the disease because it prevents the virus from invading healthy cells at the CCR5 entry point--a common avenue of transmission.
- read the article from The Wall Street Journal