The experimental male oral contraceptive pill temporarily stalled sperm and prevented pregnancies in preclinical mice models.
Published Feb 16, 2023 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 16, 2023 | 8:00 AM
Condoms and vasectomies are currently the only effective contraceptive options for men. (iStock)
Oral contraceptive pills, one of the most effective methods of birth control for women, may be available for men as well in the near future!
Scientists have developed a contraceptive drug that temporarily stalls sperm and prevents pregnancies.
Tested successfully on mice models, this is being hailed as a “game-changing discovery” that could pave the way for “the male pill”.
The experimental contraceptive drug has been developed by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators and the study — published in Nature Communications — demonstrates that an on-demand male contraceptive is possible.
Currently, condoms and vasectomies are the only effective contraceptives available for men.
The investigators noted that research on male oral contraceptives has stalled, partly because potential drugs for men must clear a much higher bar for safety and side effects.
An experimental contraceptive drug temporarily stalls sperm and prevents pregnancies, according to findings in a new preclinical study led by Dr. Jochen Buck, Dr. Lonny Levin and Dr. Melanie Balbach. https://t.co/5eegspzx4K pic.twitter.com/uHOOsuHQ58
— Weill Cornell Medicine (@WeillCornell) February 14, 2023
The team, including the study’s co-senior authors Lonny Levin and Jochen Buck, discovered that mice that were genetically engineered to lack an important cellular signalling protein called soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) are infertile.
The study demonstrates that a single dose of an sAC inhibitor — called TDI-11861 — immobilises mice sperm for up to two and a half hours, and that the effects persist in the female reproductive tract after mating.
In the study, some sperm began regaining motility after three hours; nearly all sperm had recovered normal movement by 24 hours, the researchers said.
TDI-11861-treated male mice paired with female mice exhibited normal mating behaviour but did not impregnate females despite 52 different mating attempts.
In contrast, male mice treated with an inactive control substance impregnated almost one-third of their mates.
“Our inhibitor works within 30 minutes to an hour. Every other experimental hormonal or non-hormonal male contraceptive takes weeks to bring sperm count down or render them unable to fertilise eggs,” researcher Melanie Balbach said in the statement.
The researchers noted that it takes weeks to reverse the effects of other hormonal and non-hormonal male contraceptives in development.
They stated that since sAC inhibitors wear off within hours and men would take them only when and as often as needed, these contraceptives could allow men to make day-to-day decisions about their fertility.
“The team is already working on making sAC inhibitors better suited for use in humans,” Levin said in a statement.
“The next step is repeating the experiments in a different preclinical model. These experiments would lay the groundwork for human clinical trials that would test the effect of sAC inhibition on sperm motility in healthy human males,” Buck added.
Levin stated that if the drug development and clinical trials are successful, it could lead to the development of “the male pill”.
