What are the challenges in producing male contraceptive pills?

Male contraceptive pills have passed the primary safety tests, according to experts who attended a major medical conference in the United States.

The pills, taken once a day, contain hormones to stop sperm production. These products will be welcome with the use of condoms and vasectomies.

But, according to the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, it may take a decade to reach the markets.

Sexual desire

Women's contraceptive pills were introduced in the UK more than 50 years ago. So why are men facing contraceptive difficulties?

Some say that there is no social or commercial demand for male contraceptive pills, but opinion polls indicate that many men are willing to take them if they are available on the market. That women trust men to take them regularly is another problem.

A survey conducted by Anglia Ruskin University in the UK in 2011 showed that 70 out of 134 women were concerned about their partner's commitment to regularly taking these pills.

Biologically, it is difficult to produce hormonal pills for men without reducing their libido or weakening their erections.

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Sperm production

Hormones help to produce sperm permanently in the testicles of fertile men.

The problem here is to stop it temporarily without lowering the level of hormones to the extent that it causes side effects.

Grains tested at the University of Los Angeles and at the University of Washington should achieve this goal, they told attendees at the 2019 conference on endocrinology at the University of New Orleans in the United States, that the first safety tests on 40 men seemed promising.

The study lasted 28 days, during which 10 men took a placebo. Thirty men were taking oral contraceptives and among those taking a drug containing androgens, the levels of hormones needed for sperm production had dropped significantly compared to placebo and had returned to normal levels after the first one. experience.

Erectile dysfunction

The side effects of this drug were few and minor. Five men who ate the pills reported a slight decrease in their sexual desire. Two men reported some erectile dysfunction while sexual activity remained normal.

No participants stopped taking the drug because of side effects and everyone has passed the safety tests.

"Our results suggest that these pills, which combine two hormonal activities at the same time, will reduce sperm production while maintaining sexual desire," said Christina Wang, the drug development supervisor. But more tests are needed and longer to verify that they are an appropriate means of birth control.

A new way

This medication is not the only method of contraception for men who depend on the hormones tested by Wang. His colleagues have developed a generation of people on the back and shoulders of the skin daily, so that it can absorb it.

The progestogen hormone, which is contained in the generation, prevents the production of natural testosterone in the testes, which reduces sperm production to low or near zero levels, while the hormone testosterone alternative in generation of libido and other functions dependent on the hormone.

Meanwhile, Wang and Stephanie Begg and colleagues at the University of Washington's Faculty of Medicine have tested another compound, the DMAU, that men can eat daily through the mouth as a means of contraception.

Experiments on 100 men have shown that they are safe enough to move on to the next step of the test.

Mood disorders

Other scientists are trying to provide hormones that facilitate birth control and used for long periods of time in the form of an injection every two months.

But they stopped recruiting volunteers for their second phase, for reasons of safety and injectable efficacy, after some volunteers had reported side effects such as mood disorders or depression.

For men who do not want to take hormones, the researchers are studying other ways to prevent sperm flow and prevent them from leaving the penis effectively by blocking the ductal canal. non-invasive way.

Vasyl gel, a chemical injected into the spermicidal ducts of the right and left testicles up to the penis, is developed as an effective form of non-hormonal male contraception and can be brought back to normal.

This method has only been tested on animals up to now, but researchers have recently received funding for their experiments on humans.

Potential market

Professor Richard Anderson of the University of Edinburgh oversees experiments conducted in the UK to test the anti-pregnancy gel for men.

He added that the pharmaceutical sector was slow to support the idea of ​​a new male contraceptive, despite good evidence that men and their partners were supportive of an additional option.

"I think this sector can create customers and a real estate market," he said. "It took a lot of time and the lack of funding played a role."

A checkered story

The researchers funded their project to develop the property through donations and donations for research, which took a lot of time.

"The status of male contraceptive pills or syringes has been passed by a winding path without much success so far, and it is good to see new preparations for testing," said Alan Bassi, professor of Masculinity at the University of Sheffield. "The essential is the interest of pharmaceutical companies to put this product on the market if the tests are successful."