Different Options for Male Contraception Could Be On Their Way

Last time we heard about Vasalgel, the male contraceptive that is expected to be the first one of its kind to be approved by the FDA, there was hope that it could be available to the public as soon as 2017. It’s now expected to hit the US market at least a year later, but there could be even more options for male birth control by then.

Vasalgel is the first treatment to lead the way. It’s non-hormonal, expected to last for years and would be administered via injection. As The Telegraph reports:

Vasalgel is essentially a polymer that’s injected under local anesthetic into the man’s sperm-carrying tubes, accessible through the scrotum—not in his penis or testicles as some authors have erred. It works by blocking sperm and is expected to be reversible through a second injection that dissolves the polymer.

The medical trials, which will begin next year and go through 2017, should show if Vasalgel is completely reversible and exactly how long the effects of the drug would last.

Unlike Vasalgel, the other types of male contraceptives currently being tested would come in pill form. One is an anti-Eppin drug that prevents sperm from swimming and another, called Gendarussa, is a non-hormonal birth control that works by preventing sperm from fertilizing the egg. There’s also the interestingly-named “Clean Sheets Pill” which is exactly what it sounds like. Regular orgasm would still occur, but seminal fluid ejaculation would be prevented. That one sounds like it could be the most controversial. If any of these pill methods become a possibility, maybe we’ll start seeing men setting reminders on their phones and a bunch of birth control alarms will start going off in the middle of dinner (unless I am the only one that sets those.)