There have been talks about a pill for men for what feels like forever but it looks like it may finally become a reality.
The non-hormonal pill was shown to be 99% effective at preventing pregnancy while testing on mice.
Human trials are expected to begin by the end of the year, fingers crossed.
The University of Minnesota are the researchers behind the new product, that many scientists have been scrambling to create as it’s thought to be quite the money maker.
The team have said the pill works by targeting how bodies interact with Vitamin A.
Vitamin A is known to be essential to fertility and after a long search, the researchers found a compound that blocks a protein that binds to a form of vitamin A in the cells.
The scientists hope that the drug induces long-lasting but reversible sterility while causing little to no off-target effects elsewhere.
Yeah, it sure would suck to have a birth control pill with a long list of negative side effects… I’m looking at you, ladies birth control.
As I said, there are many teams looking to create the first male birth control and some that are much closer as clinical trials have already begun but, most of those options target testosterone and are stacked full of unwanted side effects like higher cholesterol or lower sex drive.
According to the lead researcher at UMN, Md Abdullah Al Noman, their treatment should bypass these concerns.
“Since men do not have to suffer the consequences of pregnancy, the threshold for side effects from birth control pills is rather low, that’s why we’re trying to develop non-hormonal birth control pills to avoid hormonal side effects.” Norman told Gizmodo.
“This all looks promising so far. But clinical trials are the definitive test for the safety of any drug candidate,”
