A male contraceptive drug that reduces fertility quickly and temporarily has shown promise in mice, a study has suggested.

The drug, which inactivates an enzyme called soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), meant the mice produced sperm that could not propel themselves forward.

This suggests the drug can reduce the movement of sperm, a key indicator of its function, scientists said.

The findings indicate that an on-demand male birth control pill is possible which could be a “game-changer” for contraception, according to co-senior authors of the study Dr Jochen Buck and Dr Lonny Levin, of the Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

On-demand contraception

Dr Melanie Balbach, a postdoctoral associate, said: “Our inhibitor works within 30 minutes to an hour.

“Every other experimental hormonal or non-hormonal male contraceptive takes weeks to bring sperm count down or render them unable to fertilise eggs.”

She added that since sAC inhibitors wear off within hours, it would be taken as often as needed, meaning it could allow men to make day-to-day decisions about their fertility.

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Researchers found that while male mouse mating behaviour was normal, fertility was eliminated in the hours after the drug was given.

Contraceptive effectiveness was found to be at 100% in the first two hours, and 91% in the first three hours, according to the findings of the study. By 24 hours it had returned to normal levels.

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There were no negative health impacts when the drugs were continuously administered for six weeks.

Although the scientists administered these drugs via injection in most experiments, they found that mouse sperm mobility was also reduced by similar levels when taken orally.

Further studies are needed, but if the drug development and clinical trials are successful, Dr Levin said he hopes to walk into a pharmacy one day and hear a man request “the male pill”.

The findings are published in Nature Communications.

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