A new breakthrough in male contraception was recently announced in a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications. The study showed that a single dose of a drug was able to quickly and temporarily immobilize sperm in male mice. Researchers found that 100% of the mice were infertile for the first two hours after the drug was administered and that fertility returned to normal the next day.
The drug works by inhibiting an enzyme needed for sperm to function and is considered a “game-changer” in the quest to develop another form of contraception for men. Unlike many other efforts to develop male contraception that often rely on hormones, this drug is fast-acting, temporary and effective.
The team behind the research, led by pharmacology professors Jochen Buck and Lonny Levin of Weill Cornell Medicine, have launched their own company, Sacyl Pharmaceuticals, to develop contraception based on the inhibitors. They plan to repeat the experiment in a different animal model and work to create inhibitors that are better suited for use in humans.
While the potential for a male contraceptive pill is exciting, it is important to remember the context in which it is being developed. Currently, the burden of birth control is disproportionately shouldered by women, in part because it is the cisgender women capable of pregnancy, as well as transgender and nonbinary people, who bear the risks associated with it. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies have not prioritized developing a male contraceptive due to the side effects associated with some pharmaceutical contraceptives and the presumed lower tolerance of men for those side effects.
In light of this, the discovery of a potential male contraceptive drug is welcome news. It could potentially allow men to share equal responsibility with women for birth control and reduce the 121 million unintended pregnancies that occur each year. However, much testing and research still needs to be done before a product is available on the pharmacy shelf.