Research making progress in quest for male version of birth control pill.

2004 MAY 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 40 years after the oral birth control pill hit the market for women, scientists are still trying to come up with a version for men.

Men account for nearly a third of all contraceptive use in the United States and worldwide. And right now, they're basically limited to condoms and vasectomies.

So experts see a market for a male Pill, even if it's not actually a pill, and some large studies to develop one are in progress. The research quest is hardly new, but it could get its own shot in the arm later in 2004. The U.S. government plans to gather researchers, representatives of drug companies, and federal regulators to figure out where the research should be going.

Besides condoms and vasectomy, men recently gained another contraceptive option: the "Vasclip," a device about the size of a grain of rice that a physician can install in the testes to block the flow of sperm. It's considered permanent. Of course, there is also abstinence.

The male Pill might not really be a pill at all, at least at first. It might instead require a long-lasting injection or a small implant given under local anesthesia, or both. That's mostly a result of the biology, but experts say it's not entirely a bad thing.

An injection that lasts for, say, 3 months or more would take away the pressure of remembering to take a pill regularly, notes Diana Blithe, director of a male contraceptive development program at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. And an implant in a man's arm that a woman could feel would "provide ready proof that he is taking the contraceptive," said Bernard Robaire of Canada's McGill University.

Sporadic research funding, cultural concerns, and limited interest by drug companies are some reasons for lack of a marketed product, a recent report from the Institute of Medicine noted.