Development of silicone-based personal lubricant products containing antiretroviral drugs for prevention of sexual acquisition of HIV infection

About the Project

​​Three drug products are now available to prevent HIV prevention:

• ​Truvada®/ Descovy®—daily oral pills containing the antiretroviral drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir
• ​DapiRing®—a vaginal ring device release dapivirine for 28-day (invented and developed in part here at Queen's University Belfast)
• ​Apretude®—a long-acting injectable product containing the antiretroviral cabotegravir

​However, other product types are needed to further improve efficacy and user choice.

​Many women use personal lubricants to improve comfort/satisfaction/pleasure during intercourse, to reduce friction and the risk of vaginal tissue damage, and to reduce breakage/slippage of condoms during sex. HIV prevention products that could enhance sexual pleasure are highly desirable by end users and may drive higher adherence. Surprisingly, there have been no previous efforts to develop lubricant products containing antiretrovirals for HIV prevention. Contributing factors in Sub-Saharan Africa (where HIV prevalence is greatest) include lack of availability of personal lubricants, the requirement to purchase in pharmacies, and high costs.

​Silicone-based personal lubricants contain no preservatives, surfactants or polyquaternary compounds, are non-absorbent, do not interfere with vaginal pH, are long lasting (requiring fewer applications), and generally exhibit less irritation than water-based lubricants. In this project, we will develop silicone-based and hybrid (silicone + water) lubricants containing dapivirine for pericoital use. The project builds on our team’s expertise around formulation of antiretrovirals in silicone vaginal rings.​

Subject area

pharmaceutics; drug delivery; pharmaceutical formulation; drug product development; HIV prevention

Candidate requirements / Key skills required for the post

Applicants should have a 1st or high 2.1 honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject. Relevant subjects include–but are not limited to—Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biochemistry, Biological/Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Biomedical Engineering or a related discipline. Students who have a 2.2 honours degree and a Masters degree may also be considered. The University reserves the right to shortlist for interview only those applicants who have demonstrated high academic attainment to date.

Please note that applicants do not need to draft a detailed research proposal. Instead, applicants can simply copy and paste the summary descriptive text provided above. However, you may wish to elaborate further on the concept, particularly if you have other ideas around the general topic.

This project has not yet secured an external source of funding. Before making an application, students should therefore ensure they have identified a viable funding source to support their postgraduate studies. Self-funding international applicants are particularly encouraged to apply.

Relevant links / more information

Research at the School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofPharmacy/Research/

Prof. Karl Malcolm’s research homepage

https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/karl-malcolm

Dr. Garry Laverty homepage

https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/garry-laverty

Dr. Peter Boyd homepage

https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/peter-boyd

Keywords for search filters

HIV/AIDS; sexual and reproductive health; personal lubricants; silicone

Training provided through the research project

The project will provide extensive training and development of transferable skills in the following research areas:

• Formulation development of pharmaceutical products, including drug suspensions and emulsions
• Testing of pharmaceutical products, including rheological testing, in vitro drug release testing, stability testing, content assay, lubricity testing, etc.

Funding Notes

This project is not funded; applications are welcome from self-funding candidates.