A new male birth control pill called YCT-529 has shown encouraging results in recent trials. Unlike most traditional contraceptives that change hormone levels, this pill works without affecting testosterone. It temporarily stops sperm production by blocking a protein called retinoic acid receptor alpha, which is essential for making sperm.
Early tests on male mice showed that YCT-529 reduced sperm production significantly and caused temporary infertility within four weeks. Impressively, it prevented pregnancy 99% of the time when the male mice mated with females. The drug has now been tested on humans, with 16 healthy men aged 32 to 59 taking part.
These men all had vasectomies beforehand to avoid any risk of permanent infertility during the trial. The main goal was to check how well the drug is tolerated rather than its effectiveness. Encouragingly, no serious side effects were reported, which is important since some hormone-based contraceptives have caused mood changes and other unwanted effects.
According to Nadja Mannowetz, co-founder of YourChoice Therapeutics, the drug stays active in the body for a good amount of time. The CEO Akash Bakshi says the pill is exciting because men want more options to share pregnancy prevention, beyond old methods like condoms. YCT-529 could offer a safe, reversible alternative that doesn’t rely on hormones.
