Birth control pills aren’t just for women, according by Dr. Joseph Tash, director of the interdisciplinary center for male contraceptive research and drug development at U. Kansas Medical Center. Tash has received national attention for his research in advancement in contraceptives.
The Kansas City Star reported on the research done by Tash as well as several McClatchy newspapers nationwide and the Canadian public broadcasting network. The Colbert Report also ran a clip about it, according to C. J. Janovy, director of communications at KU Medical Center. “This is obviously a topic of wide interest,” Janovy said.
For over a decade, Tash and collaborators developed a compound that blocks sperm production and was originally part of a cancer treatment. The side effects from this included infertility.
The term “infertility” may seem scary, but if men are taking the pill and decide they want to conceive, they stop taking the pill.
“It’s not only 100 percent effective, but 100 percent reversible, which is the holy grail of a contraceptive,” Tash said.
The drug has seen effectiveness and safety for testing in mice, rabbits and most recently, primates. The animal testing has also shown the offspring produced by former users of the drug are normal and without mutation.
Tash’s team is preparing for its first meeting with the FDA to begin human testing, which will begin in another year or two. The length of time needed for approval is unclear, given the unique non-hormonal nature of the drug.
“We are going to be paving new areas, even with the FDA,” Tash said.
Valentine Agbor, a graduate student from Kumba, Camaroon, is working in a collaborating research lab that is focused on disrupting a protein related to sperm development as another form of non-hormonal male contraceptive. While Agbor’s work is still preparing for animal testing, Agbor sees the importance of increased options for male contraceptives.
“By producing more male birth control, it’s going to help males contribute to family planning,” Agbor said.
The development of these drugs could potentially impact the world, said Tash. Tash cited that half of all pregnancies are unplanned and in the US, half of those unplanned pregnancies occurred while under supposed use of contraceptives. Tash recently presented to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as an expert in contraception.
“The simpler a contraceptive is to use, the more desirable and easy it is to distribute and use,” Tash said.