'The Pill' For Men Passes Its First Safety Test

NEW ORLEANS, LA — Men have been waiting for years for this development as an alternative to a vasectomy to exert greater control over when or whether to father a child. There’s still a wait ahead, but men are a step closer to having access to their own version of the only pill so prevalent it’s claimed the name “the pill,” according to researchers in California and Washington.

The new male birth control pill has passed human safety tests. And here’s a bit more good news: In early testing, the male birth control pill doesn’t appear to dampen the male libido for most users.

The results of the study were announced last month at the Endicrine Society’s 2019 annual meeting in New Orleans. The revolutionary pill “produced hormone responses consistent with effective contraception,” according to a news release from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Officially, the male birth control is called 11-beta-methyl-19-nortestosterone dodecylcarbonate, or 11-beta-MNTDC.

Essentially, the pill lowers a man’s testosterone and replaces it with a similar hormone that “mimics testosterone through the rest of the body but is not concentrated enough in the testes to support sperm production,” the release says.

What that means is that men who want to take an oral contraceptive can still maintain an active sex life and it won’t diminish their friskiness, according to Dr. Christina Wang, the study’s co-senior investigator and the associate director at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the Los Angeles Biomed Research Institute

“Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido,” Wang said in the release.

Of the 40 men tested over a 28-day period, five experienced mild decrease in libido and two experience mild erectile dysfunction, the release says. A few other men experienced mild fatigue, acne or headache.

In comparison, female contraceptive pills, which prevent ovulation, carry their own side effects and risk factors, including nausea, headaches and migraines, weight gain, decreased libido, mood changes and others. The failure rate of female birth control pills is around 9 percent, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The male birth control pill isn’t exactly close to pharmacy shelves.

This preliminary safety test doesn’t even cover the period of time needed for the drug to take effect, which is 60 to 90 days, the release says. Wang estimates the pill will be available in about 10 years.

Regardless of the preliminary status of the drug, its results have so far been promising. The pill reduced two hormones associated with sperm production compared those who took the placebo.

The pill is something men generally want.

Wang cited a 2005 publication in the journal Human Reproduction, saying of 9,000 men around the world, 55% in stable relationships would use a hormonal contraceptive if its effects are reversible.

See the release here.

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