FHI successfully registers low-cost contraceptive implant in Kenya -- September 5, 2008

Research Triangle Park, NC — Family Health International (FHI) is pleased to announce that Pharm Access Africa Limited (PAAL) successfully registered Sino-implant (II), a subdermal contraceptive implant, in Kenya. Manufactured by Shanghai Dahua Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Sino-implant (II) will cost about 70 percent less than other contraceptive implants. The product will be marketed in Kenya under the trade name Zarin™.

Contraceptive implants are hormone-releasing rods, which are inserted by a healthcare provider just below the skin of a woman's upper arm. These long-acting rods can prevent pregnancy for several years, and the contraceptive effect is reversed as soon as the rods are removed.

"The successful registration of Zarin™ in Kenya provides women with the choice of a safe and highly effective contraceptive implant," says Markus Steiner, project director of FHI's Sino-implant (II) initiative.

Sino-implant (II) has been in widespread use in China and Indonesia for 15 years, with more than 6 million insertions to date. Its registration in Kenya is the first in a series of submissions — coordinated by FHI — to drug regulatory authorities across Africa.

"PAAL, which has exclusive distribution rights for much of sub-Saharan Africa, is working toward 10 regulatory submissions within the next year," says Parmindar S. Lotay, Chief Executive Officer of PAAL.

For more on implants, visit our topic page.  Also see the INFO Project's Implant Toolkit.

Family Health International (FHI) has been at the forefront of international public health initiatives since 1971. With a staff of 2,200 working in more than 65 countries, FHI leads and supports research and programs that address the most pressing public health needs of the developing world — HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; reproductive health; malaria; tuberculosis; and avian influenza as well as other chronic and infectious diseases. FHI's work is made possible by close relationships with funding partners, host-country governments, non-governmental organizations, research institutions and universities, community and faith-based groups, and private-sector organizations.

For more information, please contact media@fhi.org.