Could the pill for men balance the contraceptive burden?

Tech
Science
Posted 28 March, 2022

Credit: Pexels

By Sofia Phillips

London, UK

3 energy + Add Energy

0 comments

Scientists have developed a male contraceptive that doesn’t target testosterone, avoiding unwanted side effects like weight gain and depression. After proving 99% effective at preventing pregnancy in mice, the drug is set for human trials.

It looks as though birth control options for men may soon expand beyond condoms and vasectomies because scientists in the US have developed a male contraceptive pill that’s so far proven safe and effective on mice.

Set for clinical trials in humans as early as this year, the drug’s approval could help to balance the burden that’s currently placed on those who ovulate.

The news is particularly welcome in the UK amid recent allegations that the country’s heavily understaffed and underfunded reproductive healthcare services are unable to perform IUD removals, leaving thousands of women in extreme discomfort.

Presenting their findings at the American Chemical Society’s Spring 2022 conference last Tuesday, researchers explained that the breakthrough medication works thanks to a molecule called YCT529.

Targeting a protein called the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α) – a form of vitamin A that plays an important role in sperm formation – it’s able to cause a significant reduction in sperm count over a four-week period.

Within a month of being weaned off the pill, fertility levels return to normal, and reproduction becomes possible once more.

Hey guys, would you take this if it became available?#MaleBirthControl 🤔 https://t.co/JUxwt8sGgv

— SnarkTank™ (@SnarkkTank) March 26, 2022

What makes the discovery stand out, however, is that the pill does not target testosterone (the male sex hormone), thereby eliminating the risk of side effects that have, until now, kept previous alternatives from landing on the shelves of pharmacies across the globe.

‘Most female birth control pills work on the female sex hormones,’ says Abdullah al Noman, who was involved in conducting the study.

‘But targeting the male sex hormone leads to a lot of side effects such as weight gain, depression, and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Men are less willing to take a birth control pill that has significant side effects. That’s why we are targeting a non-hormonal pathway to developing a male birth control pill.’

It’s also a great deal more reliable than single-use condoms which are prone to failure and terrible for the environment, as well as much less of a commitment than largely irrevocable vasectomies which are procedures generally considered a permanent form of male sterilisation as the reversal surgery is expensive and isn’t always successful.

For this reason, scientists have been trying for decades to create a compound like this one, though it remains to be determined how human test-subjects will react to it, regardless of how promising it seems.

‘We are very excited and hopeful about this drug. If approved, this could be the next breakthrough in birth control pills since the first female birth control pill in 1960,’ says al Noman. ‘If everything goes well and the drug shows safety and efficacy in the clinical trial, it’d be safe to assume that we could see this on the market within this decade and perhaps as early as in five years.’

Sofia Phillips

Feature Media Manager & Senior Writer London, UK

Sofia (She/Her) – I’m the Feature Media Manager and a Senior Writer at Thred, specialising in exclusive articles and live interviews, fashion and beauty with a focus on sustainability, women’s rights, psychedelics, and Latin America. I studied Spanish at the University of Exeter and International Journalism at City, London. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

More from thred.

Creating deepfake porn is about to become illegal

Credit: Thred

News

Creating deepfake porn is about to become illegal

A new law will serve to protect the overwhelming majority of UK-based women who believe deepfake technology poses a serious threat to their safety. As the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) advance, people everywhere have raised concerns about how this technology will impact job security, education, and our everyday lives. Women, however, have become overwhelmingly concerned about how AI-generated content could impact their safety. A survey conducted by Glamour in collaboration with...

By Jessica Byrne London, UK

New study suggests that pregnancy can make you age faster

Credit: Unsplash

Science

New study suggests that pregnancy can make you age faster

According to recent research, women who have been pregnant before are more likely to exhibit signs of accelerated biological ageing compared to women who have never been pregnant. While it may feel like common knowledge that pregnancy ages you, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed that growing a human being from scratch can make your body between two to 14...

By Sofia Phillips London, UK

Cosmologists convene to question accepted view of the universe

Credit: Thred

Science

Cosmologists convene to question accepted view of the universe

Some of the world’s top cosmologists are meeting at London’s Royal Society to scrutinise an accepted theory on the universe’s formation. The view, formed in 1922, suggests that the universe is a vast, even expanse with no notable features. We’re floating on a rock in a vast cosmic expanse, that much is a given. Exactly what that expanse looks like when zoomed out beyond the range of planets, stars, and...

By Jamie Watts London, UK

Credit: Thred

Social

Palmsy is the new anti-social media app feeding our tech addiction

With artificial likes and follows, Palmsy replicates the dopamine hits we receive from social media whilst protecting our private information. But are these projects doing more harm than good? Social media dominates nearly every interaction we partake in nowadays. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is still up for debate, but it hasn’t stopped apps from trying to save us from ourselves. From Calm to OFFTIME, tech companies...