RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) is ready to revolutionize reproductive health worldwide, with the first male injectable contraceptive on the market as of 2020.
The Hindustan Times reported that the ICMR, the country’s leading biomedical research agency, announced that it has successfully completed clinical trials of the world’s first injectable contraceptive for sexually active men.
The male contraceptive will be available in vials within “six or seven months,” once developers have obtained regulatory approvals.
The ICMR is required to submit the extended phase-three clinical trials applied to 303 candidates, the methodology of the trials conducted, and the results obtained to the health authorities of countries in which it intends to market the novel contraceptive, including a “97.3 percent success rate with no reported side effects.”
The Guided Reversible Sperm Inhibitor (RISUG) is the scientific name for the injectable contraceptive for men.
The base compound is styrene maleic anhydride, which must be injected by a physician under anesthesia into one of the two vas deferens near the testicles, whose function is to carry mature sperm and store it up to the urethra, where it will mix with other liquids and exit during ejaculation.
Traditionally, the medical community had focused its reproductive health efforts on women. As a result, women have several options for long-term contraception, such as an intrauterine device (IUD), birth control pills, ring and patches, among others.
There are fewer options for men. The only long-acting and effective method available on the market for men is vasectomy.
RISUG treatment has a duration of 13 years. After that time it loses its effectiveness. The convenience and effectiveness of repeating the dose after the first treatment is unknown.
However, it has transpired that among its advantages is the possibility of it being reversible, if the man wishes to be fertile again, the passage of sperm can be released again through another injection that dissolves the blockage.