World-first male contraceptive gel undergoing testing in Melbourne
A world-first trial at the Epworth may be a game changer “in ensuring contraception is a shared responsibility between couples”.
Victoria
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A group of 25 Melbourne men are the first in the world to take part in an in-human clinical trial of a promising new injectable male contraceptive.
Described as being like a temporary vasectomy, it is a hydrogel called ADAM that is injected into the vas deferens – the long tube that carries sperm from the testes.
The hydrogel acts as a contraception by blocking the sperm, preventing the fertilisation of an egg.
The procedure is minimally invasive and delivered in less than 30 minutes in an outpatient clinic with local anaesthesia.
Nathan Lawrentschuk, a urologist at Epworth Freemasons and the study’s principal investigator, said the team had been “inundated” by Victorian men wanting to join the trial.
“We had to close the recruitment early because there was so much interest,” Professor Lawrentschuk said.
“There is pent up demand for something like this.”
He has already performed the procedure on four men at the Epworth Freemasons Hospital in East Melbourne.
A further 21 men will join the trial in coming weeks.
Prof Lawrentschuk said the men were aged from 30 to 45 who joined the trial for a variety of reasons including those with partners unable to use contraception for medical reasons or men who wanted to take control of their own contraception.
He said the four men were all doing exceptionally well and the next group in the trial cohort would undergo the procedure next week.
Prof Lawrentschuk says the men will be followed closely over the next three years to investigate whether the hydrogel is successful as a non-permanent, long lasting male contraceptive.
“If it is successful, it could be a game-changer, ensuring that contraception is a shared responsibility between couples,” he said.
While studies show men are willing to try contraceptive methods, there are only two options now available: condoms or the more surgically invasive vasectomy.
As a result, much of the responsibility and cost of contraception has been borne by women since the Pill was introduced.
The maker of the hydrogel is American medical device company Contraline who says it is naturally absorbed and the procedure is reversible and can be repeated.
In February ADAM was named Best Innovation at the Reproductive Health Innovation Summit in Boston.
Accepting the award the company’s co-founder and CEO Kevin Eisenfrats said it has the potential to be a first-of-its-kind product that revolutionises how couples think about contraception and family planning.
He said the Australian trial will launch the next generation of non-hormonal male contraceptives, increasing choice for men and achieving public health impact.
The hope now, he says, is that ADAM can become the first set-and-forget male contraceptive method.
Prof Lawrentschuk said the hydrogel was “shelf-ready” and he expected that if the clinical trials are successful, ADAM could be on available by 2025.
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