News you might not have heard
Posted: 05 Dec 2014, 12:38
On November 22, Indonesia’s new Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Dr. Pak M. Nasir, announced that the government was committed to using research from Indonesian universities by connecting those institutions with appropriate manufacturing companies. Specifically, Nasir mentioned the male contraception pill from Airlangga University.
Indofarma, Indonesia’s state-run pharmaceutical company, is now poised to start the production and distribution of a non-hormonal male fertility control drug. While that country’s government wants more clinical trials before classifying it as a drug, it may be available as soon as next year as a herbal supplement subject to much lower standards in order to be brought to market.
The drug is derived from the fortuitously named Justicia gendarussa, a plant commonly found in India and Indonesia’s Papua province, where it has historically been used by male members of a remote tribe to prevent pregnancy.
“The men in one ethnic group in the remote area of Sentani, Papua, boil the leaves with water and drink the water at least 30 minutes before sexual intercourse,†Professor Bambang Prajogo Eko Wardojo of Airlangga University told the Jakarta Post in May. Bambang, along with other scientists, has been conducting research on the plant since the mid-1980s.
The researchers have been successful in isolating the active ingredient and producing it in pill form. After several clinical studies, it was found to have a 99% rate of efficacy and very few if any side effects, which include, interestingly, an increased libido. While researchers are still perfecting the dosage, Bambang said they would eventually develop a version that can be swallowed just one hour before sex. The plant’s active ingredient disrupts three key enzymes in sperm, making them unable to penetrate the eggs during the fertilization process. “The chemical will not affect the quality or the quantity of sperm produced because it only targets the enzymes,†said Bambang.
Normal fertility is restored within three days after discontinuing the drug.
http://www.businessinsider.com/indonesi ... 14-12?IR=T
Indofarma, Indonesia’s state-run pharmaceutical company, is now poised to start the production and distribution of a non-hormonal male fertility control drug. While that country’s government wants more clinical trials before classifying it as a drug, it may be available as soon as next year as a herbal supplement subject to much lower standards in order to be brought to market.
The drug is derived from the fortuitously named Justicia gendarussa, a plant commonly found in India and Indonesia’s Papua province, where it has historically been used by male members of a remote tribe to prevent pregnancy.
“The men in one ethnic group in the remote area of Sentani, Papua, boil the leaves with water and drink the water at least 30 minutes before sexual intercourse,†Professor Bambang Prajogo Eko Wardojo of Airlangga University told the Jakarta Post in May. Bambang, along with other scientists, has been conducting research on the plant since the mid-1980s.
The researchers have been successful in isolating the active ingredient and producing it in pill form. After several clinical studies, it was found to have a 99% rate of efficacy and very few if any side effects, which include, interestingly, an increased libido. While researchers are still perfecting the dosage, Bambang said they would eventually develop a version that can be swallowed just one hour before sex. The plant’s active ingredient disrupts three key enzymes in sperm, making them unable to penetrate the eggs during the fertilization process. “The chemical will not affect the quality or the quantity of sperm produced because it only targets the enzymes,†said Bambang.
Normal fertility is restored within three days after discontinuing the drug.
http://www.businessinsider.com/indonesi ... 14-12?IR=T
