# Contraception development research center to advance a novel intravaginal ring as a non-hormonal multipurpose prevention technology

> **NIH NIH P50** · POPULATION COUNCIL · 2021 · $2,000,000

## Abstract

OVERALL – ABSTRACT
The overarching goal of the Population Council’s (PC) P50 proposal is to develop an innovative non-hormonal
multipurpose prevention technology (MPT) intravaginal ring (IVR) with the potential to improve the lives of
millions of women globally by combatting the overlapping burdens of unintended pregnancy and sexually
transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Emerging data indicate that women overwhelmingly prefer products
that prevent pregnancy and STIs/HIV over ones that prevent only pregnancy or only STI/HIVs. Our ‘CZL-IVR’ is
a user-controlled 30-day IVR containing three active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), copper (C), zinc acetate
(Z), and lactide (L) (a lactic acid prodrug) that together have non-hormonal contraceptive and anti-STI/HIV activity
including chlamydia (CT), gonorrhea (GC), HSV-2, and HIV-1. Lactide maintains optimal vaginal pH and provides
antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-bacterial vaginosis (BV) effects. We will advance development of our CZL-IVR
through implementation of three integrated research projects. In Project 1 we aim to formulate and manufacture
CZL-IVRs that achieve 30-day API delivery, manufacture and characterize in vitro mechanical performance of
IVRs with varying dimensions and polymers with the selection of four candidates with a range of mechanical
characteristics to evaluate in end-user research, and establish Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production
for non-medicated rings for research conducted in Project 3. In Project 2 we aim to define the optimal API
delivery doses of the three APIs alone and in combination, and to confirm the efficacy and safety of the prototype
CZL-IVR by conducting essential preclinical studies including in-vitro and in-vivo contraceptive efficacy and
antimicrobial efficacy and toxicity studies of APIs and of prototype human-sized and rhesus macaque-sized CZL-
IVRs. In Project 3 we will inform CZL-IVR development and the field more broadly through end-user research
employing novel mixed method approaches including a controlled setting cross-over study of the four selected
candidate non-medicated IVRs of varying mechanical characteristics, a 30-day continuous use study of a non-
medicated prototype IVR with an embedded temperature sensor, and a national cross-sectional survey with a
discrete choice experiment (DCE) and latent class analysis (LCA). The Administrative Core will support and
synergize our interdisciplinary collaborative research, provide scientific, administrative, and operational expertise
and oversight, and manage advisory committees to ensure adherence to timelines and success in achieving our
aims through rigorous science. Our P50 Center will be a hub fostering careers of early stage investigators and
inspiring MPT product development through fellowships and pilot project grants. Drawing from our world-class
Center for Biomedical Research and building on decades of successful contraceptive product development, the
PC’s P50 Center will ca...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10324914
- **Project number:** 1P50HD106793-01
- **Recipient organization:** POPULATION COUNCIL
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisa Blake Haddad
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,000,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-22 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10324914

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10324914, Contraception development research center to advance a novel intravaginal ring as a non-hormonal multipurpose prevention technology (1P50HD106793-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10324914. Licensed CC0.

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