Group of Dr. Soledad Penadés of CIC biomaGUNE

CIC biomaGUNE Cooperative Research Centre is to take part in CHAARM (Combined Highly Active Anti-retroviral Microbicides): a 5-year international project scheduled to start in late 2009 and aimed at developing anti-retroviral microbicides against HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

The CHAARM project, headed by Dr. Charles Kelly of King's College London, and with a budget of 12 million euros financed by the European Union (EU), will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary consortium made up of over 30 members from 8 EU member states and from other countries such as Switzerland, Ukraine, South Africa and the U.S.A. The aims of the project include the production of new chemical compounds that improve the safety and effectiveness of the anti-virals in clinical use and avoid the emergence of viruses resistant to anti-retrovirals.

Moreover, new combinations of anti-retroviral drugs will be studied that might be particularly effective as microbicides. A microbicide is a substance which, when applied in the vagina, acts to reduce the likelihood of infection caused by sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). It may be presented as a jelly, cream, sponge, suppository or vaginal ring, although, in this particular case, the microbicides designed in the CHAARM project will be presented in two types of formulation: a gel and a vaginal ring.

The Glyconanotechnology Laboratory of the Bio-functional Nanomaterials Unit, headed by researcher Soledad Penadés, will be responsible for preparing multi-functional gold glyconanoparticles which will combine different anti-retrovirals on their surfaces with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of these drugs against HIV.