Male contraceptive
The pill for men is a commonly used term for hormonal contraception for men. An oral contraceptive (the pill ) is not currently available. By mid-2011 has been intensive research on the approval of a birth control injection for men. After canceling a corresponding WHO project in August 2011 is questionable whether this research will be continued and completed in the future.
State of development
The term pill for men is not entirely correct because the original already for 2005 and then for 2009 announced preparation should consist of a combination of a progestin implant and regular testosterone injections. This combination affects the hypothalamic- pituitary - loop testicles, thus suppressing the production of sperm. Testosterone is destroyed during the gastrointestinal passage. All attempts to produce a synthetic derivative of testosterone in the form of tablets were effective, so far unsuccessfully. Research investigating the maturation of sperm in the epididymis and its potential inhibition, are still in the early stages of development. In June 2007, announced the pharmaceutical companies Bayer AG and Organon to have set the research on the project. The launch of a comparable product with the birth control pill for men is thus currently a distant memory.
From 2009 to 2011, however, ran studies by the World Health Organization to a -based on testosterone replacement method, also called injection. These were discontinued in August 2011, since about 10 % of the subjects complained of side effects such as depression. Thus, the chances of a speedy successful launch are considered too low.
The British journalist Clint Witchalls describes his experiences during a clinical trial with the implant injection treatment in his book " The pill and I ". He reported severe side effects both physical and psychological in nature, the latter in particular in connection with the testosterone injections.
The evaluation of the side effects is controversial. On the occasion of the termination of the WHO study criticized, for example, journalist Julia Seeliger in the taz, in women and men would be measured double standards: while symptoms such as depression and mood swings in women as a side effect of the pill would be considered acceptable, this is not in men the case.
Promising could be the exploration of a drug that was originally developed for the treatment of skin diseases. By blocking necessary for the production of sperm retinoic acids, first successes were reported in animal studies already.