this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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A gel injected into the scrotum could be the next male contraceptive::Biotech company Contraline has safely implanted a sperm-blocking hydrogel in 23 men. It’s designed to be a fully reversible vasectomy.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago (2 children)

They are going to need to work on their sales pitch...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Meanwhile, BDSM practitioners are thinking "two birds with one stone (to the nuts)"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Hot sexy babe will inject gel into your scrotum.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

It's the only way I can finish.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've been seeing promises about a new male contraceptive for more than a decade now. They never seem to hit the shelves form some reason.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Probably not a very big market.

I would certainly never use anything more than a condom.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

Then hopefully you don't expect women to take birth control or have an IUD.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This turns the scrotum into a stress ball.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

TSA:what are you hiding sir.
Me:nothing : o.
TSA:(Boink! Boink!)sir stop resisting! This is standard procedure.(Boink! Boink!)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Vaselgel is too cheap to manufacture to get the funding it needs to bring it to market, that's why they have been trying for 20 years and haven't succeeded yet. In the US the rights are owned by a non profit Parsemu Foundation formed to fund it. It looks like their private partner NEXT Life Sciences is actually set to come to market with a vaselgel product in 2026 they are calling Plan A.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/next-life-sciences-announces-launch-of-plan-a-birth-control-for-men-301779007.html

Interesting marketing choice comparing it to the Plan B pill.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

From what I'm reading, they're not set to go to market; that's just their goal. Most recent article I found was middle of last year that they had raised more money and were hoping to go to human trials by the end of the year. That aligns with what I remember about Vasalgel from years ago - they had finally made it to monkey trials but their monkey study was not showing a consistent ability to return to virility with the second injection. I seem to remember the proposed reason being that vas deferens in the monkeys/apes they were testing with are actually more delicate than humans' and so humans should still likely be reversible. Last I heard, I believe they were trying to move forward on the human trial of proving that it works as a contraceptive, to be followed by a human trial showing reversibility. Then radio silence and funding issues. My assumption has always been that they struggled to jump to human trials because of the primate study results hurting the likelihood of reversibility. Hopefully they have reworked it to solve that, or maybe the acquisition and new funding is enough to just push through that regardless and see if humans will be fine.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If Plan A works, you don't need Plan B... 😄

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

I think that was always the point of the name. this would just be a new plan A.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This kind of thing pops up repeatedly. There's some big, splashy news about a male contraceptive, and then it flames out, or ends up being vaporware.

The problem is that you need to stop a few million sperm with every single ejaculation; reducing that number by 99% means that you're still risking pregnancy. Severing the ductus deferens (a vasectomy) means no sperm get through; trying to clip or block them means that some can potentially get through. Hormonal BC has the same issue; while it significantly reduces sperm count, it may not eliminate it entirely. (And there can be some really significant negative side effects from eliminating endogenous testosterone production, since hormonal levels need to be pretty far out of whack before there's a really big cut in sperm production.)

OTOH, women have to stop two eggs per month, or stop them from being implanted in the uterine wall. A 99% reduction in fertility for women means that it's very, very unlikely that they're going to be able to get pregnant.

(Yes, women suffer from hormonal BC as well, but some women need it just to be able to live normal lives. It's overall less of a problem than it ends up being for men. And women have the option of an IUD as well.)

Personally, I'm in favor of vasectomy; it's allowed me to avoid having any children for 20-odd years now.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

The problem I've read with Vasalgel is that they had trouble getting enough voulenteers to test it. Trials are dragging out. It does appear to work otherwise.

I was holding out on it for a while, but ended up getting a vasectomy.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

You mean we can't blame the patriarch for under investment in men's contraceptives and that it's actually biology to blame? I'm SHOCKED.

Also, maybe I don't want a needle stuck into my balls.

Maybe my partner taking oral contraceptive is better to ensure she doesn't get pregnant.

Also are women supposed to just trust guys, or are they going to protect themselves every time.

Maybe the real reason we don't have a male oral contraceptive is because the female ones protect the female first and foremost because people suck.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

RISUG has been in promised for what, nearly a decade now? This has been the FSD/Star Citizen of the male contraceptive world, always right around the corner.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah. I got tired of their promises that it's only a year or two away like 7 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

This isn't exactly new. Vasalgel offers a similar injection that blocks the tubes, however before then back in the early 2010's there was also a guy in India testing a better version which did not block the tubes - the compound was polarised, and when the sperm went through it was disoriented such that it couldn't swim to the egg. The human clinical trials had a 100% success rate at preventing pregnancy, albeit human trials tend not to have that many people (I think there were 26). My understanding is that this became Vasalgel because the pharmacuetical industry didn't like the fact that it completely avoided the complications that can come with vasectomies where the tube is completely blocked.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Is this not the exact same thing as vasalgel? How is this new or different?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

Not sure, this seems to be exactly what vasalgel is. At first, I thought the innovation was that they just squirt this stuff into your sack and call it a day, and that would have been different. But nope! Same injection site too. Maybe it's more effective or something.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Contraline’s method involves making a small piercing in the scrotum and using a handheld injector to push the hydrogel through a catheter that’s connected to the vas deferens. The catheter is then taken out, and the puncture heals on its own.

That sounds like a bit more than just an injection. Not quite like going in for a flu shot to the nuts

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

bet politicians wont be lining up to regulate and ban this after 15 weeks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

More options are great I suppose, but as a gem-xer I don't get the modern revolt against the condom. Modern condoms are pretty damn thin / good and are a form of male birth control with bonus of very good disease prevention, have next to no side effects, and minimize messes too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Modern?

Has it increased in some way over time? I think men not wanting to wear condoms because of how they feel is a tale as old as the condom itself.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Condoms suck for everyone involved

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

That's an interesting generalization. I'm going to to count myself out of everyone then.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Will you take the pill, honey, or do I have to mash my balls again? And remember, if you won't, you're on top..

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wonder what could go wrong here? Ever here of a Hydrocele?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Do you think female birth control is 100% safe and comfortable for women? Hydrocele are nothing compared to some of the adverse side affects of female birth control. Hydrocele only form in the thing sheath surrounding the testical, are do to physical irritation (not injected fluid), and usually go away on their own. Also, I'd imagine people smart enough to develop male birth control considered that exceptionally common alement.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago

A vasectomy in my twenties was the best decision I ever made.

10/10, would snip, tie and burn again.