A group of 16 British men are preparing to trial the world’s first male contraceptive pill over 60 years after the first female contraceptives were introduced in the United Kingdom.
The pill will close off a protein inside the body called retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-alpha), preventing the protein from binding with vitamin A to stop sperm formation. Researchers said that the pill had a 99 percent success rate in preventing pregnancies in mice.
Those participating were selected due to their unwillingness to have children and have already had vasectomies because monkeys receiving the pill for over two weeks registered a lower sperm count during the initial clinical trials.
University of Minnesota professor Gunda Georg, who led the research, referred to the introduction of the pill as an “historic moment.”
“The world is ready for a male contraceptive agent and delivering one that’s hormone-free is simply the right thing to do given what we know about the side-effects women have endured for decades from the pill,” she continued.
Notably, a 2019 YouGov poll found that 33 percent of sexually active British men would be open to taking a male contraceptive pill.
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