Male Contraception Update
April 2006 Volume 1, Issue 1

**********In this issue**********

1. Welcome to the Male Contraception Update
2. Featured news: RISUG trials resume
3. Roundup of male contraceptive headlines
4. Science news: Zavesca safe, effective in year-long study in mice
5. Opportunities for activism: RISUG

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1. Welcome to the Male Contraception Update
This newsletter is a monthly publication of two not-for-profit
organizations working to speed development of new male contraceptives.
We bring you all the latest news related to male contraceptive
research and development from popular press as well as scientific
sources. To encourage faster development of new methods of
contraception for men, we'll feature an opportunity for activism each
month.

Have a question about new male contraceptives not answered on our
websites www.MaleContraceptives.org and www.MCIP.info? Post it to the
discussion group
(http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/malecontraceptives/).

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2. Featured news: RISUG trials resume

New male contraceptive clears hurdle
30 March, San Francisco

"Tyler Dunlap, a 27-year-old newlywed in San Francisco, is just one of
the many American men eagerly awaiting the results of a large clinical
trial in India.

The trial is studying a new male contraceptive, RISUG (Reversible
Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance): a reversible, nonhormonal
contraceptive that provides 10 or more years of protection after a
10-15 minute procedure. Researchers received approval this week to
begin enrolling additional study volunteers, after a delay of nearly
four years.

"RISUG would be exciting because it would mean that, finally, I could
take control of my own future, instead of leaving it to someone else,"
says Dunlap. "Being in a committed long-term relationship means that I
don't want to rely on condoms for birth control. I'm not ready for a
vasectomy, though. This new procedure could be the answer that gives
men the decisive control we lack with current contraceptives."

In the RISUG study, doctors inject a gel into the tube that sperm
travel through after they are produced (known as the vas deferens).
The gel then disables the sperm as they swim by. In study animals,
male fertility returns if the RISUG is flushed out with another
injection that dissolves the gel.

Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception
Information Project in San Francisco, says she is not surprised that
American men are watching the RISUG trial with keen interest. She
emphasizes that the method has the potential to be the first truly
affordable, reversible, long-term male contraceptive…"

For the full story, see the EurekAlert press release:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/mcip-nmc032906.php.

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3. Roundup of male contraceptive headlines
The work of the male contraceptive research community is covered by
all kinds of press sources. Here is a summary of interesting
headlines from the last month:

***HealthWatch (30 March, NBC)***
http://www.nbc5.com/health/8366574/detail.html
Resumption of the RISUG trial in NBC's summary of clinical trial news.
"Research is resuming on a potential new male contraceptive that uses
an injectable gel to disable the potency of the male sperm."

***Societal shift in the role of fathers (21 March, Fox News)***
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188688,00.html
Brief mention of new male contraceptive options within the context of
the larger fathers' rights movement. "Birth control advances have
focused upon women even though effective male birth control is
feasible." Unfortunately the coverage contains some inaccuracies.

***Male birth control in development (17 March, Oregon Daily Emerald)***
http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/03/17/441aa05fe9568
University of Oregon student and faculty perspectives on the hurdles
to the development of a hormonal male contraceptive.

***Equal efforts in birth control (1 March, Minnesota Daily)***
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/03/01/67374
Opinion editorial: "Many men would welcome this burden in exchange for
more reliable birth control and getting rid of that pesky latex…"

***Birth control for men `possible', unlikely (27 Feb, Agence
France-Presse)***
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1140990842668A141
Carl Djerassi, a famous early developer of the Pill, asserts that "no
pharmaceutical company is interested in developing a male pill",
despite the involvement of Schering, Organon, Wyeth and half a dozen
other smaller pharmaceutical companies.

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4. Science news: Zavesca safe, effective in mice long-term
Researchers in Britain have published a study of the long-term effects
of a true male pill in mice. The drug is called Zavesca (its trade
name), miglustat or NB-DNJ. Mice treated with low-dose Zavesca had
reduced sperm counts and no sperm capable of swimming properly. The
drug provided 100% effective contraception during the treatment
period. The treatment lasted for 12 months; all mice had recovered
completely 9 weeks after stopping the treatment. After recovery,
these mice fathered normal litters of baby mice at the normal rate.
The researchers found that "prolonged NB-DNJ intake did not affect
reproductive hormone levels, serum [blood] biochemistry or animal
behavior." They conclude that Zavesca is now ready to be evaluated as
a contraceptive in other species. A trial of miglustat in men is
underway at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Read a summary of the researchers' publication on the National Library
of Medicine's website:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstra\
ct&list_uids=16396932&query_hl=1

Read more about the University of Washington's clinical trial of this
drug:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/show/NCT00194649

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5. Opportunities for activism: RISUG
Researchers recently received approval to enroll additional men in the
Phase III clinical trials of the RISUG injectable contraceptive. If
you are interested in this method, now is an ideal time to encourage
this research! Here's how:

1) Get up to date by reading the most recent news on RISUG:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/mcip-nmc032906.php.

2) Letters are more powerful than emails. Draft a letter describing
your interest in RISUG to the government official who oversees RISUG's
funding:
Mr. P. K. Hota
Secretary to the Government of India
Ministry of Family Health and Welfare (FW)
Nirman Bhawan
New Delhi 110011
India

3) Here are some tips for composing your letter:
>> Explain why RISUG sounds promising to you. This is a good place
to mention what features of RISUG you like best, or disappointment you
may have had with other forms of contraception.
>> If you are unmarried, your message will be most effective if you
focus on the advantages of the method, rather than your relationship
situation. For example, "RISUG would allow me to delay having
children until I finish my studies" will be more effective than "My
girlfriend and I have had several condoms break."
>> As with most scientific research, RISUG development is on a tight
budget. Ask the Secretary to make RISUG a funding priority. If the
studies have enough funding to adhere to the US FDA's Good
Manufacturing and Laboratory Practice standards, this Indian
innovation could be available in the US much sooner than otherwise.
>> Regulations will probably prohibit opening the trial to non-local
men. However, if you would travel to India to participate in the
trial at your own expense should it open to non-local men, mention this.
>> If you know others who think RISUG is a promising contraceptive,
mention their interest.
>> Summarize by letting the Secretary know that you are pleased that
RISUG research is resuming, and that you look forward to worldwide
availability of this product.

4) Put 84 cents of postage on it, and send it off!


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***Editors***

Kirsten Thompson, Director of the Male Contraceptive Coalition (MCC)
Email: info@...
The Coalition's objectives are to speed the development of new male
contraceptives through increased legislative and institutional
support, to raise funds for applied male contraception research and
development, and to educate the public about the work of the research
community.

Elaine Lissner, Director of the Male Contraception Information Project
(MCIP)
Email: info@...
MCIP collaborates with MCC and works in three areas: raising public
awareness of promising nonhormonal male contraceptives, advocating
increased and expedited government research, and serving as a resource
for journalists who wish to write about the subject.

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