Scientists create condoms that destroy HIV and STDs

Imagine a condom that not only helps protect you against an unwanted pregnancy but also helps kill off infections and STDs—including HIV.

Within a couple of months, this may not be just a figment of our imagination. The new VivaGel-coated condom from Starpharma is setting out to make this idea a reality.

The soon-to-be-released condom contains 0.5 percent astodrimer sodium, which is a non-antibiotic, antimicrobial drug that has been shown to help protect against HIV transmission while also reducing the risk of contracting other STDs (lab studies found it to decimate about 99.9 percent of HIV, herpes, and HPV viruses). Big deal, right?

According to Dr. Jackie Fairley, Starpharma’s chief executive, “Condoms are not 100 percent effective in preventing either pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections, and so anything that you can do to reduce the number of virus particles by inactivating them with a substance like VivaGel would reduce that overall viral load.”

These condoms are still working their way to the United States (Starpharma is an Australian company), but we’ll be keeping an eye on the progress.