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This Male Birth Control Pill has Just Been Shown Safe in Humans for the First Time:
For years, scientists have been trying to develop a safe and effective version of the pill for men, and a new drug candidate could be the contraceptive we've been looking for.
This week, scientists in the US announced that an experimental oral drug called 11-beta-MNTDC looks to be safe and tolerable, based on results from a phase 1 clinical trial involving 40 men.
"Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido," says male reproduction biologist Christina Wang from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).
[...] 11-beta-MNTDC is a modified form of testosterone with both progestational (in effect, sperm-blocking) and androgenic (hormone-balancing) characteristics.
Before you get your hopes up too much, this was strictly a test for toleration; further studies are required to test efficacy.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 26 2019, @09:32PM (7 children)
From TFA
Who cares if it is safe . . . what matters is if it is effective.
If it is safe but not effective, then you have a long life to support an accident, or someone sabotaging the birth control.
If it is unsafe and not effective then you won't be around that long for the efficacy to matter.
If it is unsafe and effective then that should merit a lawsuit.
If it is safe and effective . . .
I had long wondered whether we would first put people on Mars or develop a male contraceptive.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by martyb on Tuesday March 26 2019, @10:19PM (4 children)
I think you missed the point.
If they found out it was NOT safe, how many people would they be able to get to volunteer to find out if it was effective?
This trial was with ~40 people. From what I can tell, there were no adverse reactions so severe to preclude going into further testing. And that was the goal of this test.
Later testing would involve a larger pool of volunteers to further analyze safety as well as efficacy.
Baby steps! (Hmm, that might not have been the best choice of words!)
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @01:05AM (3 children)
But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @08:08AM (1 child)
Nah, they don't need women to test, just sperm samples.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:39AM
Killjoy!
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday March 27 2019, @04:43PM
"I-I first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love...Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I-I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women, er, women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake. But I do deny them my essence."
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @02:39PM (1 child)
With a 28 days trial they've not proved safe anything, not even was long enough to prove effectiveness. All the report is a pure bluff to get funds
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:57PM
It is a phase 1 trial. They are limited to something like 8 weeks and 80 participants by law. It is only meant to prove "safety" in that taking the medication won't cause death, disability, or physiological changes above a certain level at dosage greatly above the estimated therapeutic dose. Basically, short of someone dying, wishing they were dead, or having an otherwise obvious side effect, a drug passes. Before the FDA allows them to move to phase 2, they are probably going to require the researchers do a slightly longer and bigger phase 1 trial, given the potentially serious side effects they did observe.