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Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) constitute a
major public health problem. The Centers for Disease Control
estimated that in the United States at the end of the
year 2000 there were 65 million people infected with
STDs with an additional 15
million people infected every year. The Report on Global
HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2002 from the United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS, estimated that the HIV/AIDS virus currently
infects over 40 million people worldwide. Business Week in
its June 4, 2001 issue stated that $8.4 billion was spent in
the United States on STDs with $4.5 billion alone on AIDS.
In the “Economics of Microbicide Development” issued by the
Rockefeller Foundation it is estimated that the market for a
microbicide to fight STDs and AIDS could be as high as $5
billion dollars a year worldwide.
While some STDs, such as syphilis and gonorrhea, have
been brought to all time lows, strains of HIV resistant to
currently used combination therapies are increasingly being
identified, and there is a silent and growing epidemic of
other STDs that pose equally difficult treatment and
prevention challenges. These include genital herpes (HSV-2),
Chlamydia and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
The Redox Pharmaceutical Corporation compounds
show specific efficacy against a variety of viruses and some
bacteria and have potential applications in the treatment of
inflammatory diseases. Redox Pharmaceutical Corporation is
completing preclinical development of a topical microbicide
for STDs (HIV, Papilloma, HSV-2) in preparation for
an IND application to the FDA.
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