World's first male birth control method close to approval in India

A vasectomy will no longer be the only male sterilisation process once the injectable male contraceptive is approved. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has successfully conducted clinical trials of the contraceptive injection, and is awaiting the Drug Controller General of India's (DCGI) approval. Once the drug is approved by the DCGI, the world will have its first male contraceptive injection.

The primary compound constituting the reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance (RISUG) is Styrene Maleic Anhydride. RS Sharma, a senior scientist with ICMR, claims that the contraceptive is effective for a span of 13 years, after which it loses potency. The non-surgical process will simply involve injecting the contraception under local anaesthesia into the sperm-containing tube near the testicles (vas deferens).

The Indian government-funded biomedical research body has noted a 97.3% success rate after conducting phase 3 clinical trials on 303 candidates.

Sharma elaborated on the new contraceptive, which might be available within a few short months. The contraceptive is a polymer that had been developed by a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), SK Guha. Even though the polymer was developed in the 1970s, ICMR researchers started conducting research on the mass use of the product only since 1984.

After conducting years of exhaustive tests, ICMR is ready with the finished product.

VG Somani, the Drug Controller General of India, informed The Hindustan Times that the DCGI would take six to seven months to approve the product. In India, the DGCI conducts checks on new medical innovations before the products can be mass-produced and distributed.

Researchers in the United States have also been attempting to develop a similar male contraceptive. The United Kingdom's National Health Service pointed out on their website that the product being developed by the US had multiple side-effects. In 2016, the US halted clinical testing of the product as it caused acne, muscle aches and emotional disorders.

However, the ICMR claims that their product does not have the serious side-effects that the US product exhibited. The availability of the world's first injectable male contraceptive now rests in the hands of the DGCI.