Male birth control pill underway

Soon it may not be just women remembering to pop the pill everyday.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School has signed a licensing agreement with the Norwegian company SpermaTech to produce a male birth control pill that will prevent a sperm's ability to swim.

Dr. Michael Cohen, UMMS spokesman, said the drug's design has been finalized but it will take time before it is ready to hit the market.

"We're not at the stage where we have a pill yet," Cohen said. "It's impossible to predict how long drug development will take - the soonest will probably be five to seven years."

The new drug will target a protein found in sperm cells that controls the sperm's ability to swim. UMMS doctors have found that deactivating this protein hinders the sperm's ability to travel through a female's reproductive tract to fertilize an egg.

Cohen said that tests to deactivate the protein have successfully been performed on lab mice.

"We support this research on a number of levels," he said. "We very much support alternate forms of contraception ... I think there are many men who will find this to be a good option."

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts spokeswoman Erin Rowland said a male birth control pill would modernize sexual relationships.

"It would be revolutionary if a male birth control pill was developed," Rowland said. "It would offer a new opportunity for males to share the responsibility for contraception ... contraception for men is very limited."

Rowland said that the pill would be available at Planned Parenthood as long as it was safe to take.

"Our top priority's with patient safety," she said.

Rowland said she fears ignorance of the pill's use could lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

"[The pill is] not a substitute for a condom," she said.

Some Boston University students, although excited about the pill, share the same concern.

College of General Studies sophomore Danny Kim said that he thinks the pill will have a positive impact as long as it is used carefully.

"I think it's a good idea but I'm worried about the side effects and the increase in STDs," he said. "I mean, if people aren't using condoms, then STDs will spread. But it's still a good idea."

Kim said he would be open to taking the pill because "I'm an open-minded guy."

CGS sophomore Riley Clark said the pill would be a great alternative to condoms to prevent pregnancies.

"If condoms are 99 percent and the [women's] pill is 99 percent effective and [the men's pill] would be the same, then that would be great to prevent pregnancy," Clark said. "It could be a problem, though, with STDs because if a guy is on the pill he could think 'I'm on the pill, I can't get her pregnant' and not use a condom."

Other students are more concerned with other effects of the drug.

"I'm a little scared of what the side effects would be," CGS sophomore Alejandro Garcia said. "I would use it, but there are chemicals and it would be scary. I wouldn't know what's inside of me. It's not like just putting a condom on.

"Girls are my heroes because I'd be too scared it would do something to my sperm," he added. "If the side effects are anything like girls', where we would just get bigger, that's actually a plus for a lot of guys."

School of Management sophomore Mike Ellison said that he would try the pill and he thinks the drug would redefine the role of sex in society.

"Maybe it'll make it so sex won't be so taboo anymore," he said. "It really could change things a lot. Realistically it would make people so much more comfortable. The condom was so revolutionary and then the [female pill], too. It'll make everything so much more progressive."

Some girls are not as open to the idea of the contraceptive.

"I don't see why it's necessary since girls can take the pill and guys use condoms," CGS sophomore Dominique Jones said. "I don't know how safe that would be ... Why don't we spend the money on something else?"

College of Communication sophomore Meredith Traina said that she wouldn't trust men to take the pill.

"I feel like I could barely trust myself to remember to take a pill every day, but a male?" Traina said. "Absolutely not. As a college student, I have little confidence that boys will be reliable in that department. Half of them can't even remember to shower regularly."