One of the biggest hurdles to the development of new contraceptives for men is the belief that there is no market for such products. MaleContraceptives.org has launched a new survey to help dispel that myth. Now all that’s missing is your voice! We need you to participate in this survey to help prove the demand for new male contraceptives.
This survey isn’t just for men — the participation of both men and women is important. It’s quick – fewer than 5 minutes to complete it. You can also personalize your interest in new male contraceptives by telling your story. It won’t put you on extra mailing lists, and we will never sell or share your name.
The survey results will be aggregated quarterly and sent to key policymakers and pharmaceutical industry leaders who have the power to speed male contraceptive research and development. The summaries will also be publicly available.
A special thanks to the 120+ men and women who have participated thus far.
Emerging male contraceptives got some excellent coverage in well-respected and widely-read media outlets this month. If you haven’t already seen these pieces, they’re well worth checking out.
In the United Kingdom, almost every major paper covered MCIP’s press release about the IVD trials. First was BBC Online – which did an accurate and thorough story that added interesting interviews and context. After that, pretty much all the major UK news outlets jumped on the bandwagon -- some of them with more accuracy than others! MCIP’s director was quoted in most of the articles and interviewed on BBC Radio.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Los Angeles Times reporter Regina Nuzzo was preparing what was intended to be a short piece on hormonal male contraception. But with contact information provided by the Male Contraception Coalition, she was able to efficiently reach many of the major players in the field, including a prominent researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. Suddenly the short piece was turning into a feature story! Kirsten Thompson, director of the Male Contraception Coalition, is quoted attesting to the demand for new male contraception: "Every week I get e-mails from men asking where they can get access to experimental products they read about."
You can help MCIP and MCC continue to spread the word about male contraception. Forward these stories or this newsletter to friends and colleagues. You can also make a donation to help us run our lean, mean, nonprofit publicity machine. Even small donations make a big difference.
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So much for the good news. If progress is two steps forward, one step back, here’s the step back: drug company Wyeth has decided to abandon its contraceptive discovery efforts.
Mr. Gerald Burr of Wyeth’s public relations department described the group’s decision as a motivated by the bottom line, not by a lack of interesting potential targets. Indeed, scientists there were in the process of publishing work that identified over 1,000 genes related to male fertility in mice. Six labs in Wyeth’s Women’s Health Group were involved in contraceptive research, which was looking for both male and female contraceptive targets.
Speaking specifically of male contraceptive discovery, Mr. Burr said that “the development and commercialization landscape is really unclear.” He cited uncertainty about the size of the potential market and confusion about how products would be delivered to men. Because the female contraceptive marketplace has become crowded and is now undercut by generic drugs, Wyeth’s business developers generally do not see contraceptive drugs as a profitable sector, despite the nearly untapped male contraceptive market.
You can help make sure that other companies are more clear about the potential market for male contraceptives by participating in a 5 minute survey.
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All vasectomies are the same, right? Turns out not!
A recent study confirms what researchers have suspected for a while: the ends of the cut vas deferens can sometimes join back up if the doctor doesn’t take certain preventative steps. If the vasectomy doctor just removes a section of the vas deferens tube, new channels for the sperm can bridge the gap in as many as 25% of cases. This bridging is called recanalization, and it is why a man has to get a sperm count several months post-vasectomy before he and his partner stop using other methods of contraception.
There is a better way, though. If the vasectomy doctor closes off one end of the vas deferens with heat and moves the other end outside the sheath that holds the vas deferens, the study found 0% recanalization. This vasectomy technique is called “cauterization and fascial interposition”. Any man considering vasectomy should make sure he finds a doctor who uses this technique.
Luckily, the best vasectomy doctors already do. In North America, master vasectomy docs can be found across the continent, from Seattle and Vancouver, to Ottawa and Quebec, to Florida. You can also share information about this study from Family Health International’s press release with your doctor or clinic, even if you’re not in the market for a vasectomy.
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Editors
Kirsten Thompson, Director of the Male Contraceptive Coalition (MCC)
Email: info@MaleContraceptives.org
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@NewMaleContraception.org
MCIP is entirely nonprofit 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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