Male Contraception Update
May 2006 Volume 1, Issue 2

**********In this issue**********
1. Featured news: Intra Vas Device study in men approved by FDA
2. Science news: Chinese design of Intra Vas Device effective in men
3. Roundup of male contraceptive headlines
4. Opportunities for activism: Bloggers and volunteers
5. Updates on experimental contraceptives at MaleContraceptives.org
6. Back issues of the Male Contraception Update in the Archives

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1. Featured news: Intra Vas Device study in men approved by FDA

***New male contraceptive targets sperm, not hormones***
May 5, Seattle, WA and Minneapolis, MN

Men and women have long been promised a male version of the female
contraceptive pill. But the first new male contraceptive to market may
not be hormonal at all.

Researchers received Food and Drug Administration approval today for a
90-man study of the Intra Vas Device (IVD), a nonhormonal
contraceptive that stops sperm in their tracks. The study, to take
place in Seattle, Washington and St. Paul, Minnesota, will bring men
one step closer to having their first new contraceptive in more than a
century.

"Preliminary studies in animals and men show that this doesn't have
the side effects of hormonal methods," said Jim Stice, president of
Shepherd Medical Company, a consortium of researchers and
entrepreneurs developing the device. "The concept is pretty simple: A
set of tiny plugs block sperm as they travel through a tube called the
vas deferens. Men don't need to worry that they'll have acne or gain
weight or have their sex drive go up or down -- all things that can
happen when you manipulate hormones."

This will be the second contraceptive study of the IVD in men. In the
pilot study, the method was very effective: all 30 men either had no
sperm in their semen or had levels too low to cause a pregnancy. Early
monkey studies showed reversibility after seven months of use, but
reversibility studies in men have thus far only tested same-day
insertion and removal.

Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception
Information Project, is cautiously optimistic. "The Holy Grail of
contraception is a long-term, reversible method without any hormonal
side effects," she said. "Right now the IVD developers can't guarantee
that it's reversible in men like it has been in animals, so they're
billing it as a kinder, gentler vasectomy. But if it turns out to be
reversible, they're going to have a line out the door."

For pictures, the full story or information on signing up for the
study, see the EurekAlert! press release
(http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/mcip-nmc050406.php).

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2. Science news: Chinese design of Intra Vas Device effective in men

Halfway around the world, another team of researchers is working on a
vas deferens-based contraceptive device. It is also – confusingly! -
called an Intra Vas Device (IVD). The Chinese version is similar to
the IVD being tested by Shepherd Medical, except in two respects.
First, it is a single rather than double plug in each vas deferens.
Second, the Chinese design features a hollow center filled with
medical-grade nylon thread. This mesh acts as a filter, blocking sperm
but allowing other fluids through.

In a recently-published 288-man study comparing the Chinese IVD with
no-scalpel vasectomy, the filtering action seemed to work: the IVD was
an effective contraceptive, and men with IVDs reported fewer
complications than those with vasectomy. Researchers attributed the
lower incidence of side effects to the filtering action of the IVD,
which blocks the sperm but prevents the build-up of pressure behind
the plug. The only pregnancies in the study occurred when couples
using either method didn't follow the instruction to use condoms as a
backup method for the first three months after the procedure.

Researchers think that reversal will be more successful than with
vasectomy, because previous studies have shown that the plug is not as
hard on the testes and epididymis as vasectomy is. None of the men
from the study have yet asked for reversal, though, so that remains an
unknown.

Will the filter become plugged up over time? Will reversibility rates
be as good as hoped? Will researchers outside China collaborate on
developing this device? No word yet, but stay tuned! And if you're
interested in seeing this device studied in the US, write about why to
Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development:
Bldg 31, Room 2A32, MSC 2425
31 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-2425

For further information, 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=Abstr\
act&list_uids=16573708&query_hl=6&itool=pubmed_docsum).


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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.

A new article by a group of researchers working to develop a male
hormonal contraceptive (MHC) appeared in the April 29 edition of the
medical journal Lancet. The study reviewed 30 other studies of
different MHC formulations, and found that all the participants
regained fertility after stopping treatment. The median time to
recovery of fertility was 3½ months. The publication of this article
generated major press coverage. Here are some of the better features:

***Sperm bounce back after male contraception (28 April, New Scientist)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9074-sperm-bounce-back-after-male-contrace\
ption.html
***Effects of any `male pill' should be reversible (28 April,
HealthDay.com)
http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=532405
***Hormonal birth control for men? (28 April, WebMD syndicated by CBS
and FOX)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/28/health/webmd/main1557537.shtml

Men's and women's attitudes toward hormonal male contraception have
been in the news thanks to both the Lancet article and the 50th
anniversary of the female pill:

***Would you take a male pill? (28 April, BBC Radio 1 poll)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/newsbeat/060428_malepill.shtml
***Is the male pill good for women? (28 April, the Guardian comment
section)

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/angela_phillips/2006/04/male_pill_womens_los\
s.html
***Baby, this is crazy (22 April, the London Times)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8123-2143685_1,00.html

For more headlines, check out the "In the news" section
(http://www.malecontraceptives.org/news.php).


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4. Opportunities for activism: Bloggers and volunteers

Interested in helping spread the word about new male contraceptives?
The Male Contraception Information Project (MCIP) could use your help!
MCIP works to get news about nonhormonal male contraceptive methods
in the media spotlight.

***Bloggers***
Write about male contraceptives and why you care. You are your own
independent media, and we thank you for it!

***Volunteers***
MCIP would love the help of two types of volunteers: Lexis/Nexis gurus
and blog trackers. If you're interested in volunteering, please
contact Elaine (info@...).

***Lexis/Nexis gurus. MCIP is building a database of writers who've
written about new male contraceptives. A guru would look up recent
articles about contraception on Lexis/Nexis and pass along the
authors' e-mail contact info. MCIP uses the database to send
interested writers new press releases and background info.

***Blog trackers. Get your news from blogs rather than NPR? Hooked
on de.lic.ous? MCIP needs someone to keep an eye out for blogs
featuring new male contraceptives. A tracker would then contact the
bloggers to let them know that they can sign up to receive MCIP's
press releases directly, making them the first to hear breaking news!!


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5. Updates on experimental contraceptives at MaleContraceptives.org

The MaleContraceptives.org site got some important updates last week.

***RISUG (http://www.malecontraceptives.org/methods/risug.php)
The Indian Council for Medical Research announced that Phase III
trials of RISUG can resume; 4 centers around India have already been
approved. This announcement led to renewed interest in RISUG both in
India and around the world. The team developing RISUG is now working
on manufacturing RISUG to the US Food and Drug Administration's
standards and collaborating with a well-respected nonprofit US
contraceptive research and development organization which could help
guide the US research and approval process.

***Zavesca (http://www.malecontraceptives.org/methods/zavesca.php)
In a longer-term study of low-dose Zavesca in mice, researchers found
that the drug's contraceptive effect was reversed faster than the
average male hormonal contraceptive. Male mice treated for one year
regained their fertility in 9 weeks when treatment stopped.


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6. Back issues of the Male Contraception Update in the Archives

Previous issues of the Male Contraception Update are now available
online in our Archives (http://www.malecontraceptives.org/newsletter).
Two nonprofit organizations, the Male Contraception Coalition and the
Male Contraception Information Project, work jointly to bring you this
newsletter. Have a question about new male contraceptives not
answered on our websites http://www.MaleContraceptives.org and
http://www.MCIP.info? Post it to the discussion group
(http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/malecontraceptives/).


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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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