Researchers say they have developed a male birth control pill that is effective and has few side effects. However, men have been reluctant to embrace contraceptives.
The university’s experimental male oral contraceptive would be taken once a day and acts upon male sex hormones, including testosterone.
The pill, called dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU), reduces the levels of these hormones to amounts that are low enough to suppress sperm production.
“It’s challenging to give testosterone and similar chemicals like it by mouth because of their limited time in the bloodstream and associations with liver problems,” Dr. Stephanie Page, professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and the study’s senior investigator, told Healthline. “Our goal is to develop something that is very low in side effects.”
The study findings haven’t been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal. They were presented earlier this month at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society’s 100th annual meeting in Chicago.
The results of the study were promising in their lack of significant side effects with test subjects.
“Sexual functioning, libido, performance — our analysis of the reports we received showed no difference in sexual health between the men taking the pill and those on a placebo,” Page said.
The subjects who were given the pill did have weight gains of between 1 and 3 pounds on average, according to Page.
“The weight gain and a small decrease in good cholesterol levels, HDL, are things we’re going to look at more closely in future studies,” Page says.
The current alternatives available to men for contraception, vasectomies and condoms, have limitations.
“Vasectomies are irreversible and condoms have a high failure rate — it’s 18 percent,” Page said. “Any product that males would take should have a 90 to 95 percent efficacy rate, comparable to the rate for the female pill. That’s critical.”
Would men use it?
Although the majority of men Healthline polled last year said they would not take a male version of the birth control pill, there are indications that social mores are changing.
This is especially true as younger generations look to share the responsibilities of contraception and family planning. “Single men are interested in controlling their own fertility,” Page said. “Men in families are interested in participating in spacing pregnancies as well. Young people are interested in contraception.”
This new pill is different, too.
“The difference with the DMAU pill is that men didn’t say they felt awful when they were on it,” Page said. “There is still enough testosterone in the blood that all other parts that are male — hair, libido, muscle maintenance, low voice — all the male characteristics are maintained by what’s in the pill.”
When Will The Male Birth Control Pill Be Available? What To Know About Dimethandrolone Undecanoate (DMAU)
The men in this study, however, passed safety tests, including markers of liver and kidney function, a big win in terms of a potential daily oral contraceptive for men. Usually, oral forms of testosterone clear the body too fast for once-a-day dosing, said Dr. Page, which would then require two doses per day. But this is not the case with DMAU since it contains undecanoate, a long-chain fatty acid which slows this clearance, she said. “DMAU is a major step forward in the development of a once-daily ‘male pill’,” Dr. Page said. So you may wonder: When will male birth control be available? Of course, this is a great question. I mean, just imagine a world where women don’t have to take birth control like the Pill.
When The Male Birth Control Pill, Aka DMAU, Will Be Available
While you may want to go get the male birth control pill right now, not so fast. Arthi Thirumalai, M.D., Acting Assistant Professor, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington in Seattle, co-investigator of the study, tells Bustle that they’ll be starting a three-month trial in April with the drug on healthy male volunteers. “That study will be aimed to determine sperm suppression and longer-term safety measures,” she says. “We hope in 5-10 years, but there is lots of work ahead to make that happen.”
Why DMAU Will Be A Good Option Versus Other Methods Of Male Birth Control
“Many men say they would prefer a daily pill as a reversible contraceptive, rather than long-acting injections or topical gels, which are also in development,” Page said. For instance, Vasalgel is a non-hormonal contraceptive gel that is injected into the vas deferens to block sperm. It was inspired by a polymer contraceptive called RISUG that is in advanced clinical trials in India. While some men have used RISUG for more than 15 years, only local men near the test sites in India can participate in the trials. In addition, reversibility studies have not been seen in those men, only animals.
As for Vasalgel, it has proven to be successful with rabbits and monkeys, and didprove reversible with the rabbits. Clinical trials with humans are expected for this year.
DMAU is different in that the recent study was effective in human males. “At present, men have no options that are reversible and yet also have a low failure rate,” Dr. Thirumalai says. “For that, they need to rely on their female partners. If we are able to provide men a method in which they can take control of their fertility in a reversible but simple way — like taking a single pill once a day — that would revolutionize the way they approach contraception.”
What DMAU Means For Birth Control Overall
While DMAU has the potential to be a legitimate form of birth control, Dr. Thirumalai clarifies what the pill means for birth control. “This is a phase 1 study, so success at this level is an initial step forward in the right direction,” she says. “We are still not yet at a place where we can say this works as a birth control agent, but the results we have seen thus far are promising that this might indeed be the case.”
While women may be excited about the prospect of men taking a birth control pillinstead of them, it remains to be seen how likely they are to take a pill such as DMAU. “There is good survey data done on men across different countries, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups, that shows that men and couples are very interested in men taking responsibility for birth control,” Dr. Thirumalai says. “When men have more options, we will have real-world data as to their interest and engagement. Many men already use contraception via vasectomy and condoms.”
All in all, DMAU certainly sounds promising in terms of a viable form of male birth control and it’ll be interesting to see how further testing goes.
