EMPRO kicked off its scientific activities with its first meeting of all the participating scientists in London on the 26th and 27th January, 2004. Present for part of the meeting were invited people from external organisations also involved in the battle against HIV. EMPRO scientists gave presentations outlining their contribution to the project and were also able to discuss with their EMPRO colleagues the joint activities that they will be involved in.

The EMPRO program is divided into different activities, covering development of new microbicides in the laboratory, testing these candidates, formulating candidates into a form suitable for human use and finally testing selected candidates in clinical trial. This meeting represents the first time that all of the participating scientists have met face to face and is the first meeting of what will be an annual event.