Birth control is going beyond the pill, the transdermal patch and the vaginal ring.
Researchers will begin clinical trials of a birth-control spray early this year in Australia.
The Population Council and the Australian company FemPharm are developing the new contraceptive that provides metered doses of Nesterone, a progestin extensively researched by the Population Council.
“If this turns out to be a viable delivery method, it would be better than a patch for some people because a patch can produce a lot of skin irritation,” said Melissa May, a spokeswoman for the Population Council, an international public health organization.
The contraceptive spray can be applied to certain parts of the skin–the arm or pelvic region, for example.
Once it dries, a process that takes only one minute, it goes into the skin and is gradually released into the bloodstream.
Just like the birth-control pill, the spray must be used daily, but May said that the difference is it won’t cause any type of stomach upset, a side effect some women experience with birth-control pills.
The clinical trial to fine-tune dosing levels will be conducted at the Sydney Centre for Reproductive Health Research in Ashfield, New South Wales, under the direction of Dr. Ian Fraser, a professor in reproductive medicine at the University of Sydney.
