ICMR successfully tests first long-lasting male contraceptive

The first successful contraceptive for males that provides long-lasting sterility with complete reversibility may no longer be a distant dream. After a seven-year follow-up of 303 healthy male volunteers, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found that RISUG (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance), an injectable non-hormonal male contraception, is safe and effective.
In 303 healthy, sexually active, married men (aged 25–40) identified from family planning clinics, 60 mg of RISUG was injected. Pregnancy prevention was 99.02% with no major side effects, according to the results of the open-labelled, non-randomized phase-III study published in the international open access journal Andrology. RISUG achieved 97.3% azoospermia, a medical term to indicate no viable sperms being present in the semen that is ejaculated. The study also found no adverse effects on the health of the volunteers’ wives.
RISUG is based on the injection of a polymeric agent, styrene maleic anhydride (SMA), in a vehicle of di-methyl sulphoxide (DMSO), into the sperm duct, which transports sperm cells from the testicles to the penis. RISUG was developed by Dr Sujoy Kumar Guha of IIT Kharagpur. In the journal Contraception, he authored the first scientific publication on RISUG back in 1979. The phase-III studies for this contraception have taken over forty years to conclude. Jaipur, New Delhi, Udhampur, Kharagpur, and Ludhiana were the five locations where the hospital-based study was conducted.