Researchers Say Male Contraceptive Pills 99% Effective, Confirms With Tests In Mice

A recent study by scientists confirms that a male contraceptive could be the future of protection as the researchers working on the medications discovered that it is 99% effective in preventing pregnancy in mice.

Getty Images

According to a presentation at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society on March 23, the dramatic breakthrough medicine is reportedly non-hormonal and has no reported side effects that were the major cons of previous male contraceptives.

Getty Images

When it comes to birth control options, the contraceptives choice for males has been severely limited and the limited option available for men is only condoms and vasectomy.

As the major target hormone of male contraceptives is testosterone, they have triggered serious side effects, including weight gain and depression traditionally associated with female birth control pills.

However, because the breakthrough medication is non-hormonal and side effect free, and could make a male contraceptive pill a real and viable option.

Credit: StellaPhotography / Alamy

Dr. Abdullah Al Noman - who presented the findings at the Chemical Society meeting - said the drug was developed with the main goal to make it a non-hormone affecting option.

"Scientists have been trying for decades to develop an effective male oral contraceptive, but there are still no approved pills on the market," he said, adding: "We wanted to develop a non-hormonal male contraceptive to avoid these side effects. Safety is very important for birth control pills because people are not taking it for a disease, so they are less tolerant of side effects."

Credit: StellaPhotography / Alamy

According to the researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, they developed the medication by targeting a protein called the retinoic acid receptor alpha, which plays a significant role in sperm production.

The drug compound - which scientists named YCT529 - was tested on mice over a four-week period, during which time their sperm count was dramatically reduced and they were rendered practically sterile.

While the animal testing results are promising, Lead researcher Gunda George, Ph.D. says that though animal testing has been widely successful but also warns that there was no guarantee the compound would work the same way for humans.

Credit: StellaPhotography / Alamy

"Because it can be difficult to predict if a compound that looks good in animal studies will also pan out in human trials, we're currently exploring other compounds, as well," she said.

YCT529 will begin testing in human clinical trials at the end of 2022.

Credit: StellaPhotography / Alamy