Broadly reports that researchers at the University of Minnesota could be close to a male birth control pill. The project is now seeking investors, but most men-including our boyfriends-aren’t willing to go to such great lengths; surveys show that men, if given the choice, would rather take a daily pill. At the 251st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Gunda Georg and her team of researchers revealed they have isolated a test compound that could lead to a male birth control pill.
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So most recently, researchers are focusing on other compounds, hunting for something that can be taken orally, wouldn’t affect a man’s sex drive, would be safe for long-term use, and that would stay in the body long enough that it would keep working until the next pill was swallowed. It would start working fairly quickly and it wouldn’t diminish libido.
Still, the researchers believe they are making progress toward developing a male birth control pill, and they are continuing to tweak their compounds in order to achieve “the ultimate balance of solubility, specificity and stability”.
The question is, would men even sign up to take the birth control? One among the identified compounds is the male hormone testosterone but Georg and her team note there are some barriers that have to be overcome first. But for men, the drug needs to work sort of a like a temporary, reversible, chemical vasectomy, which is no easy feat.
But researchers at the University of Minnesota could be on the verge of a new breakthrough option for men that could come in pill form.
The team speaks of one experimental compound that, while soluble, is unable to selectively target the cells required to temporarily inhibit male fertility; the compound interacts with retinoic acid receptor-α (RAR-α) – a protein involved in male fertility – as well as two other retinoic acid receptors not associated with male fertility, meaning the compound could cause adverse side effects.
Reportedly, the scientists have made small changes to a previous version of the male pill to enhance its effectiveness over a longer period.
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Georg and her colleagues say they are consistent in their efforts to examine and refine the chemical structure, with hopes to produce a soluble, stable and effective male birth control pill.
