Successful male contraceptive gel trial brings new form of birth control closer

Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2017-02-07 04:58

Article here. Excerpt:

'A male contraceptive gel has been found to work reliably in a trial in primates, bringing the prospect of an alternative form of birth control for humans closer.

The product, called Vasalgel, is designed to be a reversible and less invasive form of vasectomy and in the latest study was 100% effective at preventing conception. A blob of the gel is injected into the sperm-carrying tube, known as the vas deferens, and acts as a long-lasting barrier.

Previous tests in smaller animals showed the procedure could be easily reversed by breaking up the gel using ultrasound.

Catherine VandeVoort, of the California National Primate Research Centre and the study’s lead author, said: “Men’s options for contraception have not changed much in decades. There’s vasectomy, which is poorly reversible, and condoms. If they knew they could get a reliable contraceptive that could also be reversed I think it would be appealing to them.”

The Parsemus Foundation, a non-profit organisation that funded the work, said it plans to start a human trial as soon as funding is secured, based on the promising monkey results.

“One of the great things about the monkey model is that the male reproductive tract is very similar to humans and they have even more sperm than humans do,” said VandeVoort. “Chances are, it’s going to be effective in humans.”'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

"The Parsemus Foundation, a non-profit organisation that funded the work, said it plans to start a human trial as soon as funding is secured, based on the promising monkey results."

it took a nonprofit to get the initial funding for this. about 1/2 of the population could potentially be customers for this and it was not considered to be a good investment for big pharma? yeah, right. you watch, if there is any way, big pharma (feminist's pressure) will kill this. there is NO WAY they want men controlling their own reproductive rights, and thereby the $$ that comes to women via control of 'their' kids. screw potential big pharma profits, in general, women control men in this country.

imho, the 2 most stupid things people in the u.s. have accepted as normal to date are the criminalization of pot (and the resulting lack of medical research) and the idea that men don't want or need a better method of b.c.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by daveinga on Tue, 2017-02-07 18:17

I better men won't complain about using it or march to demand the taxpayers pay for it.

Why should we? We are the taxpayers. :)

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by el cid on Wed, 2017-02-08 15:21