An injectable male contraceptive has reportedly proven successful in a test on monkeys, setting the stage for future clinical trials in humans.
The contraceptive, an injectable polymer gel named Vasalgel, works by blocking sperm from exiting the body, essentially replicating the effect of a vasectomy, CNN reported Tuesday.
Unlike the traditional surgical procedure, however, it appears easier to reverse. A second solution is injected to break down the gel and flush it out of the body, CNN reported.
“Successful reversibility will be the key to make this world-changing,” Elaine Lissner, executive director of Vasalgel’s manufacturer, the Parsemus Foundation, told CNN.
Even so, the Parsemus Foundation cautions on its website that “the first clinical trials will likely be limited to men who are okay with potential irreversibility (i.e. don’t want any more children), since the clinicians won’t be able to promise reversibility until a reversibility study is later done.”
The Parsemus Foundation said it hopes to begin human clinical trials in 2018 and, pending their success and regulatory approval, to bring the gel to market in the U.S., European Union and Canada before “wider distribution” elsewhere.
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