A group of scientists that have been working on a male contraceptive pill presented their breakthrough findings at the American Chemical Society on March 23. According to their findings, the new medication is 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy in mice. The pill is not hormonal, and it resulted from animal testing.
Additionally, scientists report that there were no reported side effects.
This has meant it’s often left to women to carry the burden of contraception, whether that be from hormone injections, a daily pill at the same time each day, or having a copper coil inserted into them.
Back in 2019, a group of scientists presented a male contraceptive pill that passed the first round of safety, but it targeted the male hormone, testosterone, which leads to heavy side effects.
Dr Abdullah Al Noman, who presented the findings of the new compound, said that it’s non-hormonal:
“Scientists have been trying for decades to develop an effective male oral contraceptive, but there are still no approved pills on the market.
We wanted to develop a non-hormonal male contraceptive to avoid these side effects.”
Well there’s been a viable male contraceptive pill available for decades but the side effects of depression and blood clots that are acceptable in women are apparently not acceptable in men. I’ve heard this about 2 separate trials.
— Fanon Dynes (@LustyGobbles) April 26, 2021
The University of Minnesota student explained that safety is very important for birth control pills, because people don’t take them for a disease, so they’re less tolerant of side effects.
The tests, done on mice, showed that by inhabiting the RAR-α retinoic acid receptor alpha protein, they were sterile without obvious side effects.
Source: LADBible
