Male birth control applied as gel to shoulders works faster than other methods, trial shows
A contraceptive gel that men rub on their shoulders to lower their sperm count is safe, effective and starts working more quickly than other similar methods, new research shows.
The gel lowered men’s sperm count to the threshold deemed effective for contraception within eight weeks on average – faster than the nine to 15 weeks seen with male contraceptive injections.
This could make the birth control choice more attractive to men, according to researchers from the Contraceptive Development Programme at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The 222 men who took part in the trial rubbed 5ml – about a teaspoon – of the gel on each shoulder blade once a day.
The product combines two hormones, testosterone and a synthetic hormone called Nestorone.
While testosterone alone reduces sperm count, adding Nestorone speeds up the time it takes to work and means less testosterone can be given, keeping levels at a point where they do not affect sex drive or cause other side effects.
The product, which is still undergoing trials, is the most advanced among a crop of newly developed male birth control options.
Logan Whitehead, 24, was part of the trial and told Sky News’s US partner NBC News he would continue taking the contraceptive if it is approved for general use – especially having seen his partner struggle with the birth control options available to women.
“The gel was such an easy process,” he said. “It was basically like taking the pill for the day.”
Mr Whitehead said he didn’t notice side effects from the gel beyond some upper back acne and possibly a bit of weight gain, which could also have been linked to a new sedentary job.
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Researchers are now continuing to look at how well the gel works to prevent pregnancy, as well as its safety, acceptability and how long it takes to reverse after treatment stops.
But at the moment there is no money for the more in-depth stage three trials that are the next step to getting the drug authorised.
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Gynecologist Dr Brian Nguyen, one of the investigators on the gel trial, told NBC News they would need a major pharmaceutical company to fund it.
He said the challenge is that despite evidence that men want options, many couples still depend on female birth control.
“But that doesn’t mean they are satisfied with them and wouldn’t appreciate a male method,” he said.
“People always ask, ‘How long will it be until we see this product on the market?'” Dr Nguyen said.
“Most people will say five to 10 years, but I disagree.”
The US has launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug vessel – this time in the Pacific.
The US defence secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the “lethal kinetic” strike on social media.
In a video shared by Mr Hegseth, a small boat carrying brown packages explodes after being struck.
According to the US war secretary, the action killed two “narco-terrorists”, taking the death toll from all the strikes to at least 34 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a designated terrorist organisation and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific,” said Mr Hegseth.
“There were two narco-terrorists aboard during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. Both terrorists were killed, and no US forces were harmed.”
Mr Hegseth likened the alleged drug traffickers to the group behind the September 11 attacks, Islamist terror organisation Al Qaeda.
Pete Hegseth, pictured addressing a meeting at NATO on October 15, has revealed another strike on an alleged drug boat. Pic: AP
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“Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people,” Mr Hegseth said. “There will be no refuge or forgiveness – only justice.”
The seven previous US strikes had all targeted vessels in the Caribbean.
Amid a US military build up in the region and anxiety that Mr Trump may order military action against Venezuela, which the US president accuses of narcoterrorism, President Nicolas Maduro.has denied any connection to drug smuggling and said the boat strikes were a pretext for regime change.
There are no plans for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in person in the near future, according to a White House official.
The US leader later shed further light on the issue when asked why his planned summit in Hungary had been put on hold.
He said he did not want to have a wasted meeting, telling reporters in the Oval Office he had not made a determination about the talks he had wanted to hold.
The presidents last week agreed to meet in Budapest after a phone call Mr Trump called “extremely frank and trustful”.
The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.
However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.
The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.
The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.
The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.
The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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Why Tomahawks are off the table
Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.
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Professor Michael Clarke answers your questions on the Ukraine war.
Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.
Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.
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The Kremlin’s refusal to budge effectively rejects Mr Trump’s latest assessment that the frontlines should be frozen as they are.
The president shifted position last week after previously telling the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back all the land it has lost.
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Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.
But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
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Trump: ‘We can end this war quickly’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.
Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.
Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.
He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.
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