Unveils contraceptive device, says is world's first vaginal birth control ring. When it comes to their bodies and lifestyle, women in the country have got the freedom to choose. Merck Pharma announced here on Wednesday the launch of NuvaRing, a product the company claimed to be the world's first vaginal birth control ring. The global pharma major hopes to strike it rich here with the launch of the ring even as a section of gynaecologists have grave doubts about the ring's success in India.

KG Ananthakrishnan, managing director, Organon India (a Merck Pharma, said, "NuvaRing is a once-monthly vaginal ring that offers the same benefits as the pill but with the added convenience of not having to be used daily." Merck has its eyes fixed on the growing tribe of professional and working women whom it has identified as the priority market.

"NuvaRing offers the busy, multi-tasking Indian women of today, the convenience of a monthly regimen and a self-controlled method in terms of insertion and removal of the ring," Ananthakrishnan claimed. In order to prevent pregnancy for a full month, the vaginal ring must be inserted and left in place for three consecutive weeks.

Asked to specify the business potential of the ring in India, he said, "We hope to have a five to seven per cent market share in the next two to three years. The women's contraceptive market is currently pegged at about Rs 185 crore. It is growing at a rapid pace because women want to exercise their freedom." He quoted internal studies citing "dissatisfaction among women users here using daily contraceptives" to buttress his business plan viability.

However, the product is yet to ring alarm bells among current women's contraceptive players in the Indian market. RC Juneja, chief executive, Mankind Pharma (the company which manufactures the women's pill, Unwanted 72,) told Financial Chronicle, "It's a new product. We have to see how women receive it here. It is therefore too early to comment, but we welcome competition." Unlike the morning after pills sold over the counter, NuvaRing would be sold as a prescription device.

On potential reception to NuvaRing, gynaecologists are a divided lot. "India does not have a great success story to narrate in the women's contraceptive market, especially those that have to be inserted in the vagina," said president, Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, Dr CN Purandare.

He explained: "NuvaRing is popular in the west.

Women here have attitudinal issues given the social context, when it comes to the use of vaginal contraceptives and condoms."

Dr Urvashi Prasad Jha, director, Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Max Health Care, speaking at the Merc product launch, said, "NuvaRing is an important addition to the options we have to offer to women. We know that when a woman uses a contraceptive method that suits her lifestyle, she is more likely to be compliant to the regimen, which may reduce the risk of an unplanned pregnancy. Its ease of use will further enhance its acceptability and usage."

Dr Jha said that among women who agreed to participate in clinical trials for a vaginal ring, despite being satisfied pill users, 71 per cent opted to continue using NuvaRing rather than return to `the pill'.

Further, in a separate study, over nine out of ten women would recommend the method to a friend, she argued.

She cited another study conducted by the National Family Health Survey which concluded that despite the availability of various modern contraceptive methods, modern contraceptive usage was limited to less than 50 per cent of women under the age of 50 years.