Exciting things are happening at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, and we’re not being completely sarcastic. In fact, a drug in Phase 2b clinical trials with hundreds of volunteers may lead to the first effective male topical birth control, the Washington Post reports.
The daily-treatment gel, made from the progestin medication segesterone acetate and testosterone, was shown to reduce sperm production twice as quickly as other experimental treatments. The study of 222 men showed that 86% had significantly reduced sperm production by as much as 95%, leaving fewer than one million little swimmers per milliliter. Now researchers just have to figure out how to signal to a potential partner that he is telling the truth about taking the sperm-reducing birth control cream, like a spontaneous tattoo on the groin. “So, I see your treatment is up-to-date. Good for you.”