SOON A MALE CONTRACEPTIVE WILL BE AVAILABLE

SOON A MALE CONTRACEPTIVE WILL BE AVAILABLE. 

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For those who consider using condoms as one of the

most inconvenient ways of deriving intimate pleasures,

there is some good news. A male contraceptive to be

taken as an injection -- one shot effective for 10 years --

is expected to hit the market soon. Scientists at IIT

Kharagpur are in the final

stages of developing the drug and planning its restricted

monitored launch in few districts of Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar.

If successful, the invention would bring about a radical

change in the contraceptives’ sector. “The contraceptive

called Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance

(RISUG) would generate positive electrical energy when

injected in the body. The positive charge of the drug

would cancel the negative charge of the sperms making

them incapable for fertilisation," explained Dr Sujoy

Kumar Guha, professor at the School of Medicine, Science

and Technology who is also in-charge of the project.

The non-hormonal, polymer-based contraceptive is

injected into the vas deferens, the muscular tube that

begins at the lower end of epididymis and passes upward

along the side of the testis. "The contraceptive’s effect

will remain for 10 years, may be even more," Guha said.

The team working on RISUG has also come out with two

of its variants -- RISUGadv and RISUG-PH. RISUGadv has

been granted patent in Europe and is being clinically

studied on human volunteers in some parts of Europe for

its effectiveness as a combined contraceptive and prostate

cancer preventive.

"RISUG-PH, is in the animal trial stage and indirect

evidence shows it can cure baldness, particularly crown

baldness,” Guha said.

RISUG is expected to cost Rs. 200-300, depending on

market forces, whenever it is launched.