Every Male Contraceptive in Development, Compared (2026)

Published November 2, 2026 · Investigational · Not approved

There are more male contraceptives in development now than at almost any point in history, and they work in very different ways. This page puts them side by side, using what developers, registries and journals have published. Every product here is investigational, and none is approved by the FDA or any other major regulator. "Stage" means the furthest step publicly reported, not a forecast.

The comparison

Candidate	Developer	Form	Hormonal?	How it's meant to work	Reported stage	Approved?
NES/T	Contraline (from Population Council/NICHD)	Daily gel	Yes	Lowers sperm production	Phase 2b completed; Phase 3 expected 2027	No
YCT-529	YourChoice Therapeutics	Daily pill	No	Lowers sperm production (RAR-alpha)	Phase 1b/2a, listed as recruiting	No
ADAM	Contraline	Hydrogel in vas deferens	No	Blocks sperm transport	First-in-human done; "Phase 2 ready"	No
Plan A	NEXT Life Sciences	Hydrogel in vas deferens	No	Blocks sperm transport	In clinical trials (per press reports)	No
RISUG	Sujoy Guha (India)	Gel in vas deferens	No	Blocks/disables sperm	Phase 1 and 2 reported in India	No (not in the U.S.)
STEOM	BeOm / CHU de Lille	Mechanical implant on vas deferens	No	Blocks sperm transport	Animal testing; human trial hoped ~2028–2031	No
PausePill (NLS-133)	NEXT Life Sciences	On-demand pill	No	Stops sperm release at ejaculation	Small Phase 2 (per Vice)	No
sAC inhibitor	Weill Cornell / Sacyl	On-demand pill	No	Stops sperm from swimming	Preclinical; Phase 1 planned	No
DMAU	NICHD	Pill or injection	Yes	Lowers sperm production	Phase 1 studies completed	No
Alphatide	Washington State University	Peptide	No	Disrupts sperm maturation	Preclinical (mice)	No

The three big approaches

WHO's 2026 standards group male methods by how they stop sperm, and the table follows the same logic (see our WHO guide):

Lower sperm production. NES/T, YCT-529 and DMAU. These usually take weeks to start working, and weeks to months to wear off.
Stop sperm from working or being released. The on-demand pills. These are meant to work within hours and wear off quickly, but they're the earliest in testing.
Block the path. ADAM, Plan A, RISUG and STEOM. One procedure is meant to last a long time, and the big question for each is whether it can be reversed reliably.

Where each comes from

NES/T: Contraline reports the Phase 2b with 462 couples and plans Phase 3 in 2027 (Business Wire); our NES/T explainer has the details. YCT-529: its repeat-dose study is NCT06542237; see our YCT-529 update. ADAM: Contraline's pipeline page. Plan A, RISUG and PausePill: press reports from Vice and others, covered in our injectable-race explainer. STEOM: the French research ministry and French press; see our STEOM explainer. sAC inhibitor: Weill Cornell; see our on-demand pill story. DMAU: NICHD's injectable study NCT02927210 is listed as completed. Alphatide: the Washington Research Foundation; see our Alphatide explainer.

How to read this table

A later stage doesn't mean a product works better. It means more testing has been done. Many candidates in every field never make it through Phase 3. Several entries above rely on company statements or news reports rather than peer-reviewed results, and we've said so. For today's approved male options, see our plain guide to vasectomy vs. upcoming options. We update the status tracker as things change.

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This article is news and education, not medical advice. No male contraceptive described here is approved. Get notified of updates.