Men are a step closer to being able to take a contraception pill, say researchers at an Australian university.
Scientists from Melbourne have made a breakthrough in the development of hormone-free version of the drug.
Experts at Monash University have cracked a scientific barrier which they say “significantly increases the chance of the drug becoming a reality”.
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Dr Sabatino Ventura, from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), has been leading the male contraceptive program for more than two decades.
The doctor said the team is excited to overcome the main stumbling block that has so far hindered them from progressing the drug discovery program to the next stage.
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“Our primary goal is to develop a male contraceptive pill that is not only hormone-free but also bypasses side effects such as long-term irreversible impacts on fertility and, thus, making it suitable for young men seeking contraceptive options,” Ventura said.
For the first time, experts say they have solved the molecular structure of the discovery program’s primary therapeutic target.
“Now we know what our therapeutic target looks like, we can generate drugs that can bind to it appropriately, which totally changes the game,” Ventura said.
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In previous studies the Monash University team have shown that male infertility can be genetically achieved by simultaneously deleting two proteins that trigger the transport of sperm, but without affecting the long-term viability of sperm or sexual and general health.
However, until now the lack of knowledge around the chemical biology of the protein has meant it has been like “throwing darts at a dartboard hoping for success” according to one of the new study’s senior authors, Dr Sab Ventura.
At the moment the options for male contraception include only condoms and vasectomy, with the burden of preventing pregnancy largely and unevenly falling on women.
“Unfortunately there has been a widespread perception that birth control is a women’s problem rather than a men’s problem – we hope to change that,” said Ventura.
The work is published in Nature Communications.
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