Morning Briefing

Researchers involved with a multi-armed clinical trial designed to evaluate different antiretroviral (ARV) interventions for HIV prevention on Friday announced the arm testing a vaginal gel had been stopped because it was not working, the New York Times reports. The announcement marks "a major disappointment for AIDS research" because the gel "had seemed to work surprisingly well in a previous" trial, according to the newspaper. That study, called CAPRISA, found that the vaginal gel, which contains the ARV tenofovir, reduced the risk of HIV infection by 39 percent among women overall and by 54 percent among women who used it most consistently, the newspaper notes, adding, "It was hoped that the new trial, nicknamed VOICE (for Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic), would confirm that earlier trial" (McNeil, 11/25).