January 16, 2007 5:52 a.m. EST
Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Correspondent
'Sao Paulo, Brazil (AHN) - Brazilian scientists on Monday claim they have developed a new type of anti-HIV drug which could reduce cases of HIV/AIDS by as much as 40 percent.
Immunologist Luiz Castelo Branco, coordinator of the research project, said they hope to make the drug commercially available within seven years. He said the drug was derived from an algae found on the Brazilian coast.
Initial tests on the drug, which comes in the form of a gel, show that it is 95 percent efficient in preventing the transmission of HIV through sexual transmission.
Field tests conducted in Africa also show that drug could reduce the cases of HIV/AIDS by up to 40 percent.
Branco said they are planning to conduct a second round of tests for the drug in February using rodents and live cells from the cervix.
After the successful phase in February, the researchers are planning to test the drugs in humans in the next few months, he said."
