Researchers are celebrating a medical innovation that has been decades in the making. After many problems and failures, a male birth control pill has finally made it past the critical human safety testing phase, BBC reports.
Like its female equivalent, this would be a once-daily hormonal pill. When used properly, it would stop sperm production in otherwise fertile males.
The so-called “male pill” faced many problems in its tortured development history. Concerns over the male pill’s effects on sex drive and erectile dysfunction have been at the centre of the discussion.
In a 28-day human trial, this new experimental pill caused no reduction in libido while successfully reducing sperm creation hormones in men. However, longer testing will be needed to assess this pill’s effectiveness as a birth control method.
Meanwhile, other male birth control experiments have had mitigated results; a topical cream which delivers “the pill” through the skin seems to work – but it requires daily application to the back and shoulders. A longer-term injection-based therapy only requires a dose every two months – but patients have reported depression and mood disorders.