Global: Another setback for microbicide research

The first microbicide candidate to reach the final phase of testing has failed to prevent HIV transmission, researchers announced this week. Testing of the microbicide, Carraguard, was carried out over a three-year period on 6,000 women in South Africa, and was completed in March 2007. But there was no difference in HIV infections between women in the group using Carraguard compared to the placebo group.