Almost sixty years since the FDA approved the pill for birth control in women, a male version may finally be on the horizon. Researchers have developed a prototype male pill that appears to be safe in a month-long trial.
More attractive to many men than a long-acting injection or topical gel—both of which are in development—the prototype pill offers a “major step forward” in male contraception, Stephanie Page, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and senior investigator on the study, said in a statement.
The once-daily prototype pill suppressed certain hormones to the low levels you’d expect to see with effective longer-term contraceptives, results from an ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, abstract show.
The prototype pill—dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU)—is somewhat similar to the combined female pill, which contains estrogen and a steroid hormone. Rather than estrogen, DMAU uses a male hormone like testosterone. Read more