Male birth control gel inches towards FDA approval

Researchers report a birth control drug for men is close to receiving Food and Drug Administration approval. 

“The gel allows men another avenue to take control of their sexual health,” Wesley Baas, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Urology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and a UC Health physician, told Yahoo News and the Cincinnati Enquirer

Clinical trials reported the drug was 86% effective in reducing sperm counts low enough to be considered effective contraception, but Baas said it likely won't reach wide distribution for years. The clear hormonal gel is designed to be rubbed daily on the shoulders.

“The shoulder blades provide a broad surface area of skin where drugs can be easily absorbed," Baas explained. "The shoulder blades are commonly covered by shirts and thus less likely to transfer to others."

Baas said the gel "should be a reversible method of birth control," but more research needs to be done to examine the potential long-term impacts.

Read the Yahoo News story, originally published in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Featured photo at top of a doctor holding a model of sperm. Photo/iStock/Shidlovski.