SAN ANTONIO — Birth control, for men. And no, we aren't talking about a pill. Tonight we report on a new medication currently in trials that could be a reproductive game changer.
It's a first-of-its-kind use of a medicated cream that has completed successful FDA Phase One and Two clinical trials, and is the closest we have come to an actual male "birth control" pill, ever!
Dr. Greg Marchand from the Marchand Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery told us, "So the medication itself is not something new, but there's this usage of it, using it to inhibit sperm production in men for male birth control. This is a very new usage of it."
Here's how it works. The man rubs the medication named Nestorone on his shoulders daily, and then allows it to dry. The cream reduces the sperm count and testosterone, which keeps the medication from affecting the man's sex drive or his muscle mass.
Dr. Marchand added, "Sometimes it starts working as soon as eight weeks. In the trial they found that over 85% of men had sperm counts that were below kind of that magic number, less than one million per milliliter."
The CDC says between 2011 and 2015 nearly 60% of men reported using a male method of contraception at last intercourse. That could be a condom, withdrawal, or a vasectomy. Men also say they used condoms 45% during their last intercourse. That percentage is largely unchanged from the early 2000s.
And since the medication has some sort of effect on testosterone levels, the effect of the Nestorone on those still has to be studied.
Dr. Marchand said, "So that people that are taking this are getting no advantage in muscle mass or athletic ability. Or if there's going to be some advantage. So that'll have to be worked out. And I'm sure that's something we'll see as far as the phase three data."
Dr. Marchand says don't cancel your vasectomies just yet! Since the average time to complete an FDA Phase III clinical trial is about one to four years, so it won't be on the market anytime before that.
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