London, Dec 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) US drug firm Endo Pharmaceuticals had made an AIDS virus prevention gel has proved ineffective in trials in Africa, Britain’s Medical Research Council said on Monday. There was a huge 9000 women trial, in four African countries and the doctors found that the vaginal microbicide, Pro 2000, does not reduce the risk of HIV infection.

Till date, there has been no gel that has been effective against the dreaded HIV infection, and this current trial showed that conclusively there was no added benefit from the PRO 2000 gel. “This result is disheartening, particularly in light of the results of a smaller trial sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) which suggested that PRO 2000 could reduce the risk of HIV infection by 30 percent,” said Sheena McCormack of the Medical Research Council, who led the trial.

“Nevertheless we know this is an important result and it shows clearly the need to undertake trials which are large enough to provide definitive evidence for whether or not a product works.”

The MRC’s trial was the largest international clinical trial till date for a preventative HIV gel. It was done between September 2005 and September 2009, which had 9,385 women in its trial. The Microbicides Development Programme (MDP) carried it out, which is a not-for-profit partnership of 16 African and European research institutions.