New male contraceptive pill can stop sperm production without ANY side effects, claim scientists
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A team of researchers in the United States say they have cracked a contraceptive pill for males that has no known side effects.
The new drug has been tested on rhesus macaque monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Centre in the US and the results have been published in the science journal PLOS ONE .
Called EP055, the drug stops the sperm's ability to move by attaching itself to a specific protein that halts the fertilisation process.
The scientists found that the dosage worked for up to around 30 hours without any physical side effects to the monkeys at all. Eighteen days later, every monkey had made a complete recovery.
(Image: Getty)
The breakthrough suggests this could be used as a reversible form of birth control for men. After 78 hours, the research team found that the sperm was moving as normal again.
"EP055 has the potential to be a male contraceptive that would provide a reversible, short-lived pharmacological alternative," the team wrote.
However, it is some time before this will be able to be tested on humans. For the moment, fellas will have to rely on either condoms or a surgical vasectomy to stop swimmers in their tracks.