Condom-Free Male Birth Control Takes a Breakthrough Step Into Completion

Birth control for men is woefully limited but another option recently showed a breakthrough in testing. The new findings bring us a step closer to an alternative that has a number of advantages over existing forms of contraception. Right now, male birth control options are limited to the use of condoms, withdrawal or a vasectomy.

This groundbreaking product is dubbed the Vasalgel, according to a press release in Eurekalert. It's envisioned to be the first long-acting, non-hormonal, potentially reversible male contraceptive option in the market.

After injection into the vas deferens, the high molecular weight polymer creates a hydrogel that blocks the sperm from passing through. Reversal was achieved in a rabbit model by just flushing out the gel with a sodium bicarbonate solution.

The latest test proved successful in male rhesus macaques. Sixteen individual monkeys received intravas injections of Vasalgel, then allowed one week of recovery. After, they were placed back to outdoor group housing with three to nine breeding females. The monkeys were monitored for at least one breeding season, while seven of the original 16 males almost continuously lived with females for two years.

Zero contraceptions occurred after the Vasalgel injections, and complications were minimal. It's a promising prospect to control reproduction in monkeys, especially since vasectomy is much more difficult on them than it is on humans.

" We were impressed that this alternative worked in every single monkey, even though this was our first time trying it," lead veterinarian of the project Angela Colagross-Schouten explained. "Vasectomies are a routine procedure for nonhuman primate veterinarians, so to have similar or even slightly better outcomes trying a brand-new procedure is very encouraging. Hopefully, Vasalgel placement can be an option for other captive colonies, including zoos, that want to manage reproductive rates while allowing for social housing."

For humans, this might also be an appealing alternative.

"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," lead author Catherine VandeVoort of California National Primate Research Center said in a report from The Guardian. "Chances are, it's going to be effective in humans."

Benefits of the Vasalgel in humans include its non-interference with sperm production and hormones. Sperm is still produced but dissolved and absorbed by the body. It works much like a vasectomy, but is reversible.

This study was published online in the journal Basic and Clinical Andrology.