IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology
Male contraceptive gel: couples being recruited for pioneering UK trial
• https://www.theguardian.com, Hannah DevlinCouples are being recruited to take part in a groundbreaking trial of a male contraceptive gel that could allow men and women to take equal responsibility for birth control in future.
Eighty men in Manchester and Edinburgh will be asked to use a daily gel containing hormones that "send the testes to sleep", meaning the sperm count drops to zero.
Couples will rely on the gel as their sole contraceptive for a year, as part of a clinical trial to assess how effective it is at preventing pregnancy and whether the side-effects are acceptable.
Richard Anderson, a professor of clinical reproductive science at the University of Edinburgh, who is leading the study, said the method was expected to be more effective than condoms, which in real-life conditions are about 82% effective. "We're aiming to get it down to the sort of level you get with the pill which is a very small but not zero failure rate," he said.