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30-year-old work on birth-control vaccine regains momentum

Dr Talwar's discovery has been successfully tested on animals; Phase 1 trials on humans set to begin soon.

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Soon to turn 90, Dr Gursaran Pran Talwar is seen neck-deep in work, amidst test tubes and vials at his laboratory in New Delhi. He is working on a birth-control vaccine. If it sees the light of the day, it will be the first ever in the world that will temporarily protect women against pregnancy.

Work on the vaccine started way back in 1980s. "After I retired as director of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in 1994, no one carried my work forward at the institute. After a slump of nearly 12 years, in 2006, I was asked by the Department of Biotechnology under the Indo-US programme to revive the work," said Dr Talwar.

The vaccine has now completed successful animal trials -- a pre-requisite before being tested on humans. "Currently, we are drafting a protocol for clinical trials on humans. This will be submitted to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for approval," said a senior official from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Dr Talwar confirmed this development. "It has been successfully tested on animals. It is showing good immunogenicity results. It is pending DCGI approval for trials on humans," he said.

A temporary jab taken by a woman will immunise her from getting pregnant for three months or more. "The current injections used to prevent pregnancies are steroid-laden and harmful to women's health," said Dr Talwar.

Currently, the injections administer progesterone in high doses leading to side-effects that affect a woman's menstrual cycle and ovulation patterns. They also lead to androgynous developments like growth of hard hair on a woman's face," said Dr Sonia Malik, chairperson (infertility), Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Society of India (FOGSI).

Dr Talwar's vaccine, however, is different and is said to have little side-effects. It produces antibodies against human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) after being administered. hCG is a hormone that plays a critical role in the implantation of embryo in the mother's womb. The vaccine antibodies neutralise the activity of hCG, resulting in the woman not getting pregnant.

Dr Talwar notes that in 1980s, when the anti-hCG vaccine was first tried in 148 women, hard evidence was received on their ability to prevent pregnancy without harmful side-effects like rendering the menstrual cycle irregular or affecting the ovulation patterns. In 1980s, the vaccine produced antibodies that curtailed pregnancy in 60- 80% women. However, for the vaccine to be desirable, it has to be efficacious on over 90% of the sample size.

Dr Talwar rubbishes criticism that the vaccine would render women infertile. In its draft protocol, ICMR has proposed that the new variant of the anti-hCG birth control vaccine can be tried on women in the age group of 22 - 35 years with two living children, who consent to be a part of the trial.

Phase I trials are proposed to be conducted in three sites, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi.

Dr Talwar nostalgically traces back his journey to post-partition days, when he landed up in Connaught Place at Delhi after attaining a degree in Chemical Engineering from Lahore. "I was unemployed and sold newspapers to earn a living. A friend and me feistily applied for research fellowships in Europe. Later, I went on to complete my PhD from Institut Pasteur in France," he says. Dr Talwar later headed the Biochemistry department at AIIMS and founded NII.

Interestingly, the bacteria used in making the anti-leprosy vaccine is named after him - Mycobacterium Indicus Prannii (MIP) - where Indicus stands for 'India,' and Prannii is a juxtaposition of Talwar's first name, 'Pran.'

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