A Birth Control Pill for Men?

💊 Researchers at the University of Minnesota are expected to begin testing a male birth control pill on human patients by the end of the year.

• The scientists said their treatment proved to be 99% effective in mice with no observable side effects.
• Rather than using hormones, like the female birth control pill, the new male contraceptive targets the body’s interactions with Vitamin A, a key component in fertility.
• When male mice were given the pill for four weeks, researchers noted a significant drop in semen that rendered them effectively sterile. And after treatments were stopped, all of the mice returned to normal within four to six weeks.

✋ Yes, but… History is littered with examples of pharma giants and universities attempting – and failing – to create a safe and effective birth control pill for men after the female equivalent was discovered in the 1950s.

• No such treatment has ever made it past human clinical trials; many scientists chalk it up to the biological challenge – a man makes millions of sperm every single day, while women’s ovaries usually release one mature egg each month.

♂️ Zoom out: A male contraceptive gel created by UC Davis Health researchers is currently in the midst of a two-year, Phase 2 human clinical trial. (A gel-based, non-hormonal contraceptive for women received FDA approval in 2020.)

• A separate "testicle-bath" male contraceptive won the 2021 Dyson Award for Engineering, though it has yet to undergo any human trials.