Why Has Male Birth Control Taken 50+ Years? A Short History

Published November 4, 2026 · Investigational · Not approved

"Male birth control is 5 to 10 years away" has been said for decades. The search started around the same time as women's hormonal methods, but took a very different path. Here's a short, sourced history of why there still isn't an approved male pill, gel or implant, and why that may be changing. Every product mentioned is investigational and not approved.

The 1970s: WHO steps in

After the women's pill took off in the 1960s, WHO created its Special Programme of Research in Human Reproduction (HRP), which set up a task force on male fertility regulation, according to a 2019 review by Edinburgh researcher Richard Anderson. That task force ran landmark trials of testosterone alone and with progestins, and also promoted no-scalpel vasectomy, now the main technique worldwide.

Gossypol: a warning that shaped the field

In the 1970s, Chinese trials proposed gossypol, a compound from cottonseed, as a male pill. A 1998 review explains why WHO's program rejected it: animal studies found it too toxic, side effects included low-potassium paralysis, and two studies found about 25% of men stayed infertile after stopping. The authors concluded that future male contraceptives must go through proper animal toxicology and phased clinical trials. That standard is right, but it is also slow and expensive.

The 1980s–90s: proof it can work

WHO studies of weekly testosterone injections showed hormonal male contraception was possible. In the first, about 70% of men stopped producing sperm, and the pregnancy rate was 0.8 per 100 person-years [1]. But drug companies didn't pick it up. The review lists industry worries about patent security, lawsuits, a perceived "small market" and competition with their own women's products [1].

The 2000s: pharma tries, then leaves

Organon and Schering teamed up on an implant-plus-injection method. According to a 2024 Andrology paper, Schering's program ended when Bayer bought it in 2007, and Organon's ended by 2009 after Merck bought Schering-Plough, which had acquired Organon. Unclear regulatory guidance and doubts about the market kept other companies away.

2011: a trial that worked, and stopped

A WHO/CONRAD trial of hormone injections suppressed sperm in about 96 of every 100 continuing users, but an outside review panel stopped it over side effects such as mood changes (JCEM, 2016). We cover that trial and a 2026 reanalysis in our explainer.

Why it's hard in general

A male contraceptive is given to healthy people to prevent something, not to treat a disease, so the tolerance for side effects is very low. And unlike a woman's method, it prevents a pregnancy in someone else's body, which makes trials longer and more complex: they need couples, not just men. The Andrology paper notes that most progress since then has been paid for by governments and nonprofits rather than industry [3].

What's different now

A few things have shifted. WHO published its first target product profiles for male methods in 2026 (see our WHO guide). Investors put $92.5 million into Contraline in June 2026 to take NES/T into Phase 3 (Business Wire), though its CEO told Fierce Pharma that "Big Pharma really has kind of sidestepped this field." Surveys keep finding that many men say they'd use a new method (see the European survey). And there are more candidates than ever: our full comparison lists them. None of that guarantees a launch date, but it's the most momentum the field has had.

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This article is news and education, not medical advice. No male contraceptive described here is approved. Get notified of updates.