2024 begins with a medical news: the male birth control pill may be real. It’s called YCT-529 and still needs to pass human trials. Researchers recently started the first phase of human experimentation. The pill is a project of San Francisco YourChoice Therapeutics, already a pioneer in the field of hormone-free contraception.
Indeed, the biggest news of this pill wouldn’t be just its target, but also its functioning. The male birth control pill is not based on hormones as the female ones. Instead, it works as an inhibitor of the retinoic acid alpha receptor. If taken every day, the pill blocks access to vitamin A, responsible for the sperm production. As a result, no fecundation can occur.
Basically, it’s the same mechanism responsible for male infertility, but in this case it’d be reversible. Previous studies proved that vitamin A plays a key part in male reproduction. Male birth control pill would suspend users’ ability to reproduce, with no permanent damage. It’d be sufficient to stop taking it for the sperm production to restart and thus for the fecundation to occur. Just like with female birth control pills, but with no side effects related to hormone intake.
Or, at least, this is the idea. We’d need to wait until the end of human trails, this summer, to discover whether it really works.
