The first pill for male birth control may soon be on its way to development, researchers say. According to Seattle’s King 5 News, the pill mimics Vitamin A deficiency, which causes male sterility.
After doing initial testing on mice, researchers at Columbia University are ready to move forward to tailoring a pill for humans. But the actual development could take some time, doctors say.
“There is certainly enough excitement to say maybe this will be applicable someday to humans,” said urologist Jonathan Masel. “But I would say it would be at least three to five years out from accomplishment.”
The biggest determining factor for the pill's future on the market is whether or not men would be willing to take a contraceptive every day, Masel said.
“They can’t determine if there is enough of a market to be investing the millions of dollars it takes to develop the drug that some of these drugs won’t even develop in the first place,” he said.
The pill is considered an advantage over hormone-based birth control for women, which have been known to affect libido or have other unsafe side effects. Male birth control would not affect libido, researchers say.
According to King 5, researchers are currently planning longer-term studies on the drug to determine how long male fertility can be disrupted and still return to normal.
