Experimental male contraceptive gel successful in monkey trials
An experimental new type of contraceptive for males that blocks sperm flow with a gel has been successful in monkey trials.
Vasalgel acts as a physical barrier once injected into the tubes that sperm would swim down to the penis.
The company behind it says a two-year trial shows the gel works and is safe – at least in primates. It hopes to have enough evidence to begin tests in men within a few years. If those get funding and go well, it will then seek regulatory approval to make the gel more widely available to men.
It would be the first new type of male contraceptive to hit the market in many decades.
Currently, males have two main options of contraceptive – wear a condom to catch the sperm, or have a sterilizing operation (vasectomy) to cut or seal the two tubes that carry sperm to the penis from where they are made in the testicles.
Vasalgel has the same end effect as vasectomy, but researchers hope it should be easier to reverse if a man later decides he wants to have children.
In theory, another injection should dissolve the gel plug.That worked in early tests in rabbits, but the researchers have yet to prove the same in monkeys and man.
Another experimental male birth control gel – RISUG (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) – that works in a similar way to Vasalgel is being tested in men in India.Unlike RISUG, Vasalgel is not designed to impair the swimming sperm.It merely blocks their path while still letting other fluid through, according to the manufacturer.
Both gels are given as an injection, under anesthetic, and are meant to offer long-acting contraception.
Researchers at the University of California in the US tested the gel on 16 adult male monkeys, 10 of whom were already fathers.The monkeys were monitored for a week after getting the injection and were then released back into an enclosure to rejoin some fertile females.
Mating did occur, but none of the female monkeys became pregnant over the course of the study, which included two full breeding periods for some of the animals.
Few of the male monkeys had side-effects, although one did need an operation because the injection did not go to plan and damaged one of his tubes.
This type of contraceptive wouldn’t protect against sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. But in terms of willingness, experts believe men would be up for trying new contraceptives, such as a gel.
Dr. Anatole Menon-Johansson, from the sexual health charity Brook, said some men do want to be part of the solution and do their part.”If you can have more options available then maybe more men would go for it,” he added.
He said the idea of a “reversible vasectomy” was desirable, whereas asking some men to take hormones to control their fertility might be “a big ask”.
