ImQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has recently been awarded a development grant from the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) for the advanced preclinical evaluation of the pyrimidinediones for use as topical microbicides.

The grant will support evaluation of the ability of three highly potent compounds - called pyrimidinediones - to inhibit the transmission of HIV to women.

These drugs, called pyrimidinediones, inhibit both the entry of HIV into target cells and the critical step of reverse transcription within the cell, acting at sub-nanomolar concentrations.

The research and development arm of ImQuest Pharmaceuticals - ImQuest BioSciences - will perform the preclinical studies and will evaluate the ability of the pyrimidinediones to prevent the infection of target cells in the vaginal environment. Later on, preliminary studies to evaluate the safety and formulation of these compounds and when all works out successfully, ImQuest will further evaluate the safety of the compounds in preparation for filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the Food and Drug Administration.

According to Dr. Robert W. Buckheit, Jr., President and Chief Scientific Officer of ImQuest BioSciences:

"We believe that the unique dual inhibitory mechanism of action of the pyrimidinediones will render them highly effective microbicides to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

We are extremely pleased to benefit from IPM's extensive experience and expertise in the development of vaginal microbicides as we begin the clinical development of these agents."

Find more details from the full report.