December 23, 2020
This past year has been an exceptionally challenging one, with the devastating coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and other global crises affecting populations around the world. While recognizing the tremendous loss and setbacks that these crises have caused, here at the Initiative for Multipurpose Prevention Technologies (IMPT) we have also been deeply inspired by humanity’s resilience, solidarity, […]
September 2, 2020
The IMPT recently released its updated MPT Product Development Database. The IMPT Secretariat conducted the annual update process between February and June of 2020 and launched the updated database in July 2020. Resources used to update the database included: product developer updates, published peer-reviewed literature, relevant scientific conferences, and publicly available funding data. The following […]
December 19, 2019
The IMPT offices are always a buzz with activity during the months of November and December. Giving Tuesday, World AIDS Day, as well as general end-of-the year wrap ups—it is a reminder that for organizations like ours, this time of year is a time for increased activism, awareness, and reflection. This year, as the IMPT […]
August 20, 2019
In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are at the highest risk of acquiring HIV. However, as this is a heterogeneous population, the characteristics of these women can vary greatly. A one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work. In order for MPTs to have the greatest impact, approaches must be tailored to the populations where […]
July 22, 2019
Imagine if women could take one pill every day and be protected from unintended pregnancy AND HIV? And what if this pill was available within several years? We believe the fastest route to a contraceptive MPT is to combine two products that are ALREADY ON THE MARKET into a single pill. A dual-purpose pill has […]
March 26, 2019
The Initiative for MPTs (IMPT) is dedicated to advancing the comprehensive sexual and reproductive health of women and girls worldwide. The Secretariat staff, who manage this global learning network, comprise a group of women who have worked a combined eight decades in the women’s health and sexual and reproductive health fields. From working with underserved […]
February 14, 2019
Evofem Biosciences’ lead product candidate, Amphora® is an MPT – more specifically, a Multipurpose Vaginal pH Regulator (MVP-RTM) – that is being developed for the prevention of pregnancy and certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including chlamydia and gonorrhea. Amphora is a non-hormonal, acid-buffering vaginal gel designed to regulate a woman’s vaginal pH to within the […]
December 1, 2018
Every four minutes, three young women will become infected with HIV—that’s close to 900,000 new infections a year. While HIV prevention research and drug development have progressed rapidly, there is still work to be done. This World AIDS Day, we reflect on our work to advance MPTs by asking the IMPT Advisory Council for their […]
November 5, 2018
We at Yaso Therapeutics are developing a vaginal gel, called Yaso-GEL, that uses a single proprietary drug to prevent pregnancy as well as genital herpes, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. The gel is mucoadhesive, non-irritating, relatively low-cost, and stable. Yaso-GEL aims to be an MPT that can fill the need for non-hormonal contraceptives and protect women from […]
August 1, 2018
It all started with the simple realization that women seeking protection against HIV also want to prevent unintended pregnancies. In general, they also prefer a combined method. Then followed the innovation challenge: Engineer a long-acting intravaginal ring that could release two chemically diverse drugs – one for HIV and herpes simplex virus (HSV) prevention, and one […]