A CONTRACEPTIVE pill for men is on the horizon after early human trials found it to be safe.
Up until now, the primary male birth control options have been condoms and vasectomy.
Male contraceptives have been in the works over the last few years – trials for a hormone-free pill are starting now[/caption]
A contraceptive pill containing female hormones estrogen and progestogen was first made available to women in the UK in 1961 – initially for married women only, but made accessible to unmarried women in 1974.
Today, progestogen-only pills are available without prescription in pharmacies.
But in an early-stage study, the hormone-free contraceptive pill was shown to be well-tolerated at a variety of doses, with no safety concerns and no serious adverse events, according to the company developing it and its CEO Akash Bakshi.
A 28-day trial involving 50 men aged 28-70 is currently underway, with a 90-day mid-stage study expected to start in the second quarter of this year.
The drug, YCT-529, is being development by YourChoice and Quotient Sciences, and works by interfering with vitamin A signalling, which is necessary for sperm production.
Fertility returns when the treatment is discontinued – like with the female contraceptive pill.
With a trial involving mice and primates, the pill was shown to cause infertility within two weeks, and the mammals regained fertility after treatment ended.
No adverse effects were reported, the researchers wrote in Communications Medicine.
They added a reversible male contraceptive that’s administered orally “would be the best case scenario for ease of use and compliance”.
Dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU) is another experimental, once-daily oral medication being developed as a male contraceptive that suppresses testosterone and sperm production, showing promise in initial studies.
A study in 2018 found that DMAU, taken daily for a month, was safe and had hormone responses consistent with effective contraception.
But more research is needed to determine its long-term safety and efficacy.
NES/T is a hormone-based, transdermal gel being developed as a male contraceptive.
It contains a combination of nestorone (a progestin) and testosterone, designed to suppress sperm production while maintaining healthy testosterone levels.
The gel is currently in clinical trials being conducted by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Population Council.
Dan Glastonbury and wife Emily are one of around 200 couples who tested it out.
Getting the snip could boost men’s sex life
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
GETTING a vasectomy could boost a man’s sex life, according to study published in 2024.
A vasectomy involves cutting and sealing the tubes that carry sperm from the testicles to the urethra.
Middle-aged men were found to be more active and satisfied in the bedroom after getting the snip.
And they were less likely to have low sex drive or trouble getting an erection than those who hadn’t had the procedure.
The study involved 5,425 men in their 50s in Germany, of whom 13 per cent had been sterilised.
Of those who had the snip, 93 per cent had had sex in the past three months — against 83 per cent who had not gone under the knife.
Complaints about poor sex drive were lower, at five per cent compared with seven.
So were rates of erectile dysfunction — 12 per cent versus 20 per cent.
Dr Matthias Jahnen, from the Technical University of Munich, said: “Our results show the fear of sexual dysfunction and the decline of one’s sex life following a vasectomy is unjustified.”
