ABSTRACT
At 1996’s Eleventh International Conference on AIDS in Van couver, the Clinton administration pledged 100 million dollars to ward the development of topical agents for application prior to sexual activity that would reduce the risk of HIV infection. These protective creams or gels, known as microbicides, would ideally inactivate harmful bacteria, virus, and other microbes. The difficul ty of developing a microbicide for internal use that would be hostile to dangerous pathogens while harmless to the user has been dis cussed for well over a decade. Early versions of contraceptive mi crobicides in the form of spermicidal films, foams, and jellies have been available for nearly twenty years in a variety of over-thecounter and prescription pharmaceutical products. More recently, however, a sense of urgency in the face of the AIDS pandemic has generated renewed interest in these chemical barriers.
