Male Birth Control Pill Gets One Step Closer: What We Know

Researchers have made a breakthrough that could represent a major step forward in making the male “pill” a reality.

The Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Drug Discovery’s research focused on a compound that can inhibit a particular protein crucial for fertility in males. The compound can target the protein, thus impeding sperm mobility, the researchers said.

The effects of the compound are temporary, allowing normal sperm function to return after the compound has exited the system.

“Although researchers have been investigating several strategies to develop male contraceptives, we still do not have a birth control pill for men,” said Dr Martin Matzuk, director of the Center for Drug Discovery.

“In this study we focused on a novel approach – identifying a small molecule that would inhibit serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33), a protein that is specifically required for fertility in both men and mice.

“STK33 is therefore considered a viable target with minimal safety concerns for contraception in men,” he added.

The compound has only been tested on mice so far, as other compounds are still to be tested and further work must be done before human trials can commence.

Newsweek has contacted Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Drug Discovery for further details via email.

The female contraceptive pill, commonly known as “the pill,” was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 9, 1960. The pill revolutionized reproductive health by providing women with an effective and convenient method of birth control.

Despite early formulations causing side effects such as nausea and weight gain due to high hormone levels, Planned Parenthood says later versions of the pill reduced these issues by lowering the hormone dosage.

Although the female contraceptive pill is now generally safer and widely available, some women still experience harmful side effects.

Research into a male contraceptive pill has been advancing significantly in recent years. Efforts to create an effective and safe male contraceptive have faced numerous challenges, primarily due to the high sperm production rate in men and the need to ensure any contraceptive method is easily reversible and has minimal side effects.

In 2022 a hormone-free male contraceptive pill began clinical trials in the U.K.

This drug works by inhibiting the retinoic acid receptor-alpha (RAR-alpha), a pathway crucial for sperm production. Preclinical studies demonstrated that the drug was 99% effective in preventing pregnancies in mice and fully reversible, showing no apparent side effects.

Medical experts have previously speculated that the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade could accelerate research and development for a male birth control pill.

Currently, the main contraceptive methods readily available to men are condoms, vasectomies or spermicides, chemical substances that kills sperm.

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