Virginia medical company working towards birth control for men
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virg. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A Charlottesville company, Contraline, looks at the future of birth control for men.
Contraline, located in Charlottesville, calls it the biggest development in male contraception since the vasectomy.
IUDS, but for men. With more than thirty options, the responsibility of birth control often falls on women but Contraline is trying to change that.
"By providing a really appealing option for men, I think we're going to reduce unintended pregnancies and actually alleviate or reduce some of the burden that women have to go through," said Kevin Eisenfrats, CEO of Contraline.
How it works
Eisenfrats started working on the idea when he was a student at the University of Virginia (UVA). He says it has become even more important after the overtuning of Roe v. Wade.
"I know that men really want a new male contraceptive. So, I really embarked on this crazy journey of starting a company to develop the first one," Eisenfrats shared.
Eisenfrats also shared how it all works:
"The doctor basically finds the vas deferens, which are a pair of tubes that transport sperm. They apply anesthesia to it, they inject this gel inside the vas deferens, and then it actually doesn't even need stitches or sutures, because it's that minimally invasive.
The gel then blocks all of the sperm, and the whole procedure takes about 15 minutes.
Clinical trials
"Contraline is interesting, because we have the first one that's non-hormonal, so none of those systemic side effects," Eisenfrats further added.
Eisenfrats said historically, the focus has been on women while adding, "The science is honestly a little bit easier to stop the one egg once a month, rather than to stop the tens of millions of sperm that are produced every heartbeat."
Currently, the gel is being tested in the clinical trials.
"We've actually been already doing it in humans in Australia. And we're excited to bring this to the United States in the next one to two years," Eisenfrats expressed.
The goal is to have it widely available in the next three-to-four years.
