HIV nanomedicines

Developing a child-friendly treatment for HIV

Every day, a million children in sub-Saharan Africa are treated for HIV. Children as young as three weeks old get a twice-daily dose of antiretroviral drugs that has to be dissolved in strong alcohol.

Thanks to our donor and supporter community, we have successfully reached the fundraising target of £400,000 for this project.

Researchers from the University, led by Professors Andrew Owen and Steve Rannard from the University’s Nanomedicine Partnership have focused on developing lower-dose adult formulations and child-friendly treatments for HIV using Solid Drug Nanoparticle (SDN) technology, which can be dispersed in water rather than dissolved in alcohol. Previously, children as young three weeks old were given a dose of insoluble antiretroviral drugs that were sometimes dissolved in strong alcohol twice a day.

Despite having a product ready for clinical trials, funding was needed to support the next steps of paediatric clinical development and to ensure this new medicine was made available as soon as possible. Thanks to you, we are one step closer to getting this treatment to the millions of people who need it.

The poorest countries need this new medicine the most. This is why we have chosen not to profit from its development. Instead, this medicine will be licensed for charitable use through our unique partnership with Medicine Patent Pool (MPP).

The continued support and contribution to HIV research carried out by the University of Liverpool has been, and continues to be, an investment in the future.

Professor Steve Rannard, said: “Thank you to all of our supporters as every donation made to the appeal is greatly appreciated by the team. Your gifts are vital and will fund essential research that will enable us to get these new options to those who need it the most.”

Professor Andrew Owen, adds: “Our next steps are a manufacturing run and clinical trial, with a focus on paediatric nanomedicine. A high priority for us is to make these options widely available as cheaply as possible and our unique partnership with the Medicine Patent Pool will seek to make that happen.”

Our work doesn’t stop here – we need your help to ensure that we can continue to offer our students an outstanding education and stay at the forefront of innovation. We would love for you to continue to support the University and our work. There are a number of projects that we are focusing on this year and we hope you will consider lending your support.

Visit our fundraising priorities page to find out more.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project, we couldn't have done it without you.