For many years, microbiologist John Moore and his team have been investigating the mechanism that HIV uses to enter the cells it infects. Based at Cornell University in New York, Moore has been involved in publications that highlight the role of certain cell receptors in the process.

Using this knowledge, both his team and other groups have devised strategies to stop the virus from entering cells. But so far, most of these have proved to be too expensive for widespread use. On page 99 of this issue, Moore's team presents promising results for a protective vaginal microbicide, which potentially could be cheap enough to produce and distribute.

Because of this potential, Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb will now be providing a licence to the International Partnership for Microbicides to turn the compound into a product that could reduce the spread of HIV. Nature caught up with Moore to find out about the discovery.

Why a vaginal microbicide instead of a vaccine?

In the absence of a viable vaccine, it's highly relevant to look at alternative strategies.

What is the significance of this paper?

We're not the first group to test a microbicide. The significance is not what's in the paper but what's going to happen next. The drug companies, the International Partnership for Microbicides and the US National Institutes of Health are all going to work together to try to make a practical product. The paper is the means to an end.

What is the clinical significance of your work?

Affordability is a relevant issue. There's no point in developing something that costs a hundred or a thousand times what people can afford — such as monoclonal antibodies that could protect from HIV, which we published, but I dropped because of the affordability issue. We're competing financially with the price of a condom; you have to be able to make a microbicide for tens of cents per use, not tens of dollars.

What were the authors' contributions?

Ron Veazey at the Tulane Primate Center did all the real work. Marty Springer of Merck and Richard Colonno at Bristol-Myers Squibb deserve credit for having the vision to see that their compounds could make a difference to public health. I further developed my typing skills.

What's next?

We're still working on identifying and developing new compounds. The companies are going to develop a product. I'm not going to be developing a product. I'm a basic-science guy.