While there may be concerns that a male contraceptive pill wouldn't work because men would forget to take it, study co-author Dr. Arthi Thirumalai of the University of Washington was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying it would be "quite old-fashioned" to draw such conclusions, as surveys had found that men are also willing to "take responsibility for contraception".
Similar to the pill used by women, the male contraceptive tested on 100 of the participants combined an androgen (a male hormone like testosterone) and a progestin.
The development of a male contraceptive pill has over the years been affected by side-effects on fertility, birth defects and libido.
"Although little testosterone is circulating, very few people have symptoms consistent with a testosterone deficiency", Trang said.
A total of 100 healthy men aged 18 to 50 took part in the clinical trials for the male contraceptive, which were conducted by researchers from the University Washington Medical Center, with 83 of them staying on until the end of the study.
DMAU is being developed by the US National Institutes of Health, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Men can also have a vasectomy, but this method is invasive and often not reversible.
The quest to develop a male contraceptive pill has been long and fraught.
The research examined ways around what previous studies had encountered - for example, men's bodies clear quicker than women's, meaning men would have to take twice the number of pills each day for the same effect.
One big question has always been whether men would actually take a birth control pill reliably, since they're not the ones who bear the burden of pregnancy.
There's a new contraceptive in town (well, not now, but possibly soon) and it aims to put the responsibility of safe sex square in the hands of men.
All participants passed safety tests, including markers of liver and kidney function, the study said. DMAU must be taken with food to be effective, said Page. Daily oral administration of dimethandrolone undecanoate is well tolerated and is associated with reduced serum testosterone levels into the hypogonadal range, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, held from March 17 to 20 in Chicago. The highest dose group displayed the most effective results showing "marked suppression" of testosterone levels and specific hormones related to sperm production. The researcher added that studies indicate that men prefer taking an oral contraception rather than an injection or implant.
