Trials focus on hormonal birth control for men

While the potential for a male pill has long been recognized, biological factors add to the challenge of making it happen.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. March 8, 2004.

Washington -- Could clinical trials of a male hormonal contraceptive signal the start of a new era in birth control? It's possible, but don't toss the condoms out just yet, say those in the know.

"My understanding is that it will be at least five to 10 years before there is going to be any hormonal male contraceptive methods," said Vanessa Cullins, MD, vice president for medical affairs at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

"The issue really revolves around the continuous production of sperm by men," she said. While an effective hormonal birth control pill for women need only address a single fertile period in one month, it could take four months or more to reduce the vast numbers of sperm produced to a point where pregnancy is unlikely.

Most male hormones are not orally active, leading to the need for injectable or implantable formulas, noted Doug Colvard, PhD, associate director for CONRAD, a Virginia organization established by the Eastern Virginia Medical School and the U.S. Agency for International Development to fund reproductive health and HIV prevention efforts in the United States and abroad.

The potential for a hormonal male contraceptive has been recognized for decades, but options for men interested in assuming the responsibility for contraception have remained the same -- condoms and vasectomy.

Despite this limited choice, men account for one-third of all contraceptive use in the United States and worldwide, says a January Institute of Medicine report on contraception, "New Frontiers in Contraceptive Research: A Blueprint for Action."