New male contraceptive is safe, effective, inexpensive — and can’t find a company to sell it ARI ALTSTEDTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS Published: April 01, 2017 Updated: April 02, 2017 4:53 PM Filed Under:The Province > News > World MALE-CONTRACEPTIVE11.jpg "Why should the burden be borne by the female only?" says biomedical engineer Sujoy Guha, inventor of the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) male contraceptive treatment, shown in a research laboratory at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, on Feb. 16, 2017 MALE-CONTRACEPTIVE14.jpg A research assistant prepares a syringe inside a pharmacy glovebox at the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) male contraceptive treatment research and development laboratory at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, on Feb. 16, 2017. MALE-CONTRACEPTIVE13.jpg A sign for the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) male contraceptive treatment research and development laboratory stands at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur campus, in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, on Feb. 16, 2017. The new birth control method for men could win as much as half the $10 billion market for female contraceptives worldwide and cut into the $3.2 billion of annual condom sales, businesses dominated by pharmaceutical giants Bayer, Pfizer and Merck. INDIA-MALE-CONTRACEPTIVE12.jpg Research assistants work at the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) male contraceptive treatment research and development laboratory at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, on Feb. 16, 2017. Doctors are on the cusp of launching the first new male contraceptive in more than a century. But rather than a Big Pharma lab, the breakthrough is emerging from a university startup in the heart of rural India.
Years of human trials on the injectable, sperm-zapping product are coming to an end, and researchers are preparing to submit it for regulatory approval. Results so far show it’s safe, effective and easy to use-but gaining little traction with drugmakers. That’s frustrating its inventor, who says his technique could play a crucial role in condom-averse populations.
A new birth control method for men has the potential to win as much as half the $10 billion market for female contraceptives worldwide and cut into the $3.2 billion of annual condom sales, businesses dominated by pharmaceutical giants Bayer AG, Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co., according to estimates from the last major drug company to explore the area. India’s reversible procedure could cost as little as $10 in poor countries, and may provide males with years-long fertility control, overcoming compliance problems and avoiding ongoing costs associated with condoms and the female birth-control pill, which is usually taken daily.
It could also ease the burden on the 225 million women in developing countries, who the World Health Organization says have an unmet need for contraception. Yet so far only a U.S. non-profit has taken up development of the technology abroad.
For Sujoy Guha, 76, the biomedical engineer who invented the product, the challenge is to find a company that wants to sell it. But male contraception is an area Big Pharma has so far shown little interest in.
“The fact that the big companies are run by white, middle-aged males who have the same feeling-that they would never do it-plays a major role,” said Herjan Coelingh Bennink, a gynecology professor who helped develop the contraceptives Implanon and Cerazette as head of research and development in women’s health for Organon International from 1987 to 2000. “If those companies were run by women, it would be totally different.”
lol what