The main challenge stopping the male contraceptive pill from being made available is the “lack of involvement” from large pharmaceutical industries, believes a leading fertility expert. Richard Anderson, a Clinical Reproductive Science Professor at University of Edinburgh, told Express.co.uk: “One of the main challenges is the lack of involvement of any large pharmaceutical industry. So at the moment it’s all being done by organisations such as the National Institute for Health in the US or WHO. They are not really organisations that are specialised in bringing drugs to markets.
“They’re more involved in the early phases.”
The researcher also discussed the possibility of a male contraceptive gel, which is “closer to reality” than the pill form.
He said: The last big World Health Organisation (WHO) study used injections given every two months. There’s a new study starting in the US, which is using a gel application that you rub on every day.
Answering a question on whether a gel or injective contraceptive would be in use before a pill, Professor Anderson responded: “At the moment they’re further on in development, so it depends on whether they work out or not.
“But there are oral pill type preparations in development, and it may be that they’ll come to fruition as well.”
The fertility expert also discussed when these contraceptive methods will be safe for male use. He said: “It’s still an experimental thing, so these things evolve with time and require to be carefully ascertained to a large population before you can really answer that question sensibly.
“One would be foolish to say it’s a certain number of years away I think. There’s still quite some significant hurdles to be overcome, so we really need to see how development goes over the next few years.”
The male pill has been in the pipeline for a number of years, yet condoms and vasectomy are the only contraceptive methods currently available to men.
While the pill has been researched for a long time, there’s seemingly a lack of men eagerly anticipating it’s launch.
Just 26 percent of men in the UK said they’d be willing to try a male contraceptive pill, according to a survey by Zava.
15 percent of men categorically said they wouldn’t try the male contraceptive, while 26 percent were unsure.
Almost a third of all UK men weren’t even aware that a male contraceptive pill was being researched.
In the UK, 40 percent of men said they’d definitely try the pill, when it’s released.