What is Empreva?
Empreva is a vaginally applied, dissolvable fabric that delivers localized hormonal contraceptive therapy, minimizing the dose needed for effective birth control. Empreva can be applied 24 hours before or after sex, providing birth control that is convenient, comfortable, safe, and effective.
The technology behind Empreva is an electrospun polymer material, which has been developed by leading researchers at the University of Washington. Electrospun polymer materials are proven in the scientific and medical fields for their utility in a range of applications, from laboratory consumables to wound dressings. At Empreva, we are employing the electrospinning process to manufacture polymeric nanofibers that can load and release contraceptives and/or anti-HIV pharmaceuticals. The advantages of our electrospun nanofibers include the ability to load protective levels of drugs, achieve tunable kinetics of drug release, localize drug delivery at the site of infection or fertilization, and provide solid dosage forms that can be applied vaginally. Significantly, the ability to formulate more than one drug within the nanofibers allows us to develop multipurpose prevention technologies, which are geared towards protecting women in the developing world against unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.
