It looks like a male contraceptive pill could soon be an option.
Scientist's working on the medication have found that it is 99% effective in preventing pregnancy in mice.
According to a presentation at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society on March 23, the breakthrough drug is non-hormonal and produces no apparent side effects - one of the major issues of previous male contraceptive pills.
Male birth control options have been severely limited in the past, with condoms and vasectomy's the only real option. Because the majority of male contraceptive pills to be developed have targetted the male sex hormone testosterone, they have triggered side effects including weight gain and depression traditionally associated with female birth control pills.
However, because the breakthrough medication is non-hormonal and side effect free, it could make a male contraceptive pill a real and viable option.
Dr. Abdullah Al Noman - who presented the findings at the Chemical Society meeting - said the compound was developed specifically to provide a non-hormone affecting option.
"Scientists have been trying for decades to develop an effective male oral contraceptive, but there are still no approved pills on the market," he said, adding: "We wanted to develop a non-hormonal male contraceptive to avoid these side effects. Safety is very important for birth control pills because people are not taking it for a disease, so they are less tolerant of side effects."
Researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis developed the medication by targeting a protein called the retinoic acid receptor alpha, which plays a significant role in sperm production. The compound - which scientists named YCT529 - was tested on mice over a four-week period, during which time their sperm count was dramatically reduced and they were rendered practically sterile.
While the animal testing results are promising, lead researcher Gunda George, Ph.D., warned that there was no guarantee the compound would work the same way for humans.
"Because it can be difficult to predict if a compound that looks good in animal studies will also pan out in human trials, we're currently exploring other compounds, as well," she said.
YCT529 will begin testing in human clinical trials at the end of 2022.
