The brainchild of Aussie biotech, Starpharma and Ansell, a new anti-viral compound, VivaGel, has been clinically proven to inactivate up to 99.9 per cent of HIV, herpes and some other

sexually transmitted viruses, effectively reducing the risk of transmission. Having just received conformity assessment certification from the TGA, the condoms should be available to Australian consumers within the next few months. Starpharma CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley, however is quick to caution that condoms are not 100 per cent effective in preventing pregnancy or STIs, so anything that can be done to reduce the number of virus particles through inactivation via a substance such as VivaGel would reduce the overall viral load.