MCI's Impact
Male Contraceptive Initiative is committed to ensuring that every promising non-hormonal, reversible male contraceptive target receives the funding and advocacy support it needs in order to be fully vetted and commercially viable to the greatest degree possible. Practically speaking, this means that we support potential next generation contraceptives that span the depth and breadth of the product development timeline.
Doing so is a necessary step to ensuring that no promising target gets left behind so to speak, but it also means that many of the targets we are supporting still have years of research and development work to be done before they are even ready to be tested in humans, let alone readily available at your local clinic or pharmacy. This reality can be discouraging for some people given how many decades we have already waited for new methods of contraceptives for sperm-producers.
In an effort to offset these feelings of discouragement, and to help illustrate just how important your continued support to MCI is, we created the snapshots below to share tangible outcomes that would otherwise not have been possible without our collective efforts:
Doing so is a necessary step to ensuring that no promising target gets left behind so to speak, but it also means that many of the targets we are supporting still have years of research and development work to be done before they are even ready to be tested in humans, let alone readily available at your local clinic or pharmacy. This reality can be discouraging for some people given how many decades we have already waited for new methods of contraceptives for sperm-producers.
In an effort to offset these feelings of discouragement, and to help illustrate just how important your continued support to MCI is, we created the snapshots below to share tangible outcomes that would otherwise not have been possible without our collective efforts:
Project(s)
TriptonideTriptonide is a natural compound purified from the Chinese herb Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F that has displayed reversible male contraceptive effects in both mice and monkeys.
A single daily oral dose of it has shown to induce deformed sperm with minimal or no forward motility and, consequently, male infertility. However, this effect has also been shown to wear off in a matter of weeks after animal models ceased consuming the compound. This indicates that there is significant potential for Triptonide to be a natural, reversible, non-hormonal contraceptive targeting sperm. |
HIPK4The homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 4 (HIPK4) is a protein coding gene that plays a role in later stages of sperm maturation and is another potential non-hormonal target under development.
HIPK4-null male germ cells have shown defects that create abnormal head morphologies in mature spermatozoa, resulting in male infertility. HIPK4 knockout mice have impaired spermatogenesis but are otherwise healthy, indicating the viability of disrupting the protein as a reversible, non-hormonal form of sperm-targeting contraception. |
MCI's Lemonade Stand: "Triptonide as a Non-hormonal Male Contraceptive"
Contraceptive Accelerator Network
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We believe that every potential promising male contraceptive target deserves the support necessary to determine whether or not it is viable as a next generation birth control method targeting sperm. Far too many promising leads have not been given a fair opportunity for evaluation before being abandoned, to everyone’s loss. In order to help address this, MCI launched Contraceptive Accelerator Network, a small mission-centric pharmaceutical company created with the specific intent of ensuring that promising non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive targets receive the support necessary to develop them as next generation birth control methods delivered to those who produce sperm.
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Workshop Agendas
Workshops provide a rich environment for collaboration and ideation. This is particularly true when thinking through new products or services, as well as for improving existing ones. They are a way of working a bit differently as a group and moving beyond “design thinking” and into “design doing”. Here we suggest different ways of integrating the activities and games in workshop settings of varying length to illustrate how their collective utility can help unpack the complexity of male contraception research and development, and move beyond the abstract to the tangible in developing new male contraceptive products. We will update this section with new and different workshop agendas, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.
Workshops provide a rich environment for collaboration and ideation. This is particularly true when thinking through new products or services, as well as for improving existing ones. They are a way of working a bit differently as a group and moving beyond “design thinking” and into “design doing”. Here we suggest different ways of integrating the activities and games in workshop settings of varying length to illustrate how their collective utility can help unpack the complexity of male contraception research and development, and move beyond the abstract to the tangible in developing new male contraceptive products. We will update this section with new and different workshop agendas, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.
History of Contraception
Contraception, including male methods, is nothing new: humans have been developing products in an effort to prevent pregnancy for millenia. We collated the timeline below to highlight some of the key moments of contraception research and development throughout history. (Please note that the entries marked with an * indicate important milestones for the field).
3000 BC*
* The condom is invented in Egypt. Ancient drawings clearly depict men wearing condoms - sometimes made of material that may have been animal hide. It's not clear what they were made of -- or whether they were used for sex or ceremonial dress.
600 BC
Greek colonists in North Africa discover Silphion, reputedly the first oral contraceptive. Silphion was an herb -- thought to be a kind of giant fennel -- that grew only in the area now known as Libya. Despite heroic efforts, it could not be cultivated. Worth its weight in silver, silphion was harvested to extinction by 100 A.D.
1734
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova begins his amorous career, and is among the first to use condoms to prevent pregnancy. Said to prefer condoms made from lamb intestine -- still the preferred material for natural gut condoms -- he also used linen condoms tied off with a ribbon.
1827
In a major scientific breakthrough, scientists discover the existence of the female egg -- the ovum. Prior to this, it is only known that semen must enter the female body for conception to occur. This is the first step in understanding the science of human reproduction.
1838
A German doctor, Friedrich Wilde, offers patients a small cervical cap to cover the cervix between menstrual periods. This method is never widely adopted, but the "Wilde Cap," as it became known, is the precursor to the modern diaphragm.
1844
Charles Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber. Soon, rubber condoms are mass produced. Unlike modern condoms -- made to be used once and thrown away -- early condoms were washed, anointed with petroleum jelly, and put away in special wooden boxes for later reuse. British playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw called the rubber condom the "greatest invention of the nineteenth century."
1845-1873
The U.S. contraceptive industry flourishes. In addition to condoms (immediately known as "rubbers"), there's widespread sale and use of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, douching syringes, vaginal sponges, diaphragms and cervical caps (then called "womb veils"), and "male caps" that covered only the tip of the penis.
1873
Congress passes the Comstock Law, an anti-obscenity act that specifically lists contraceptives as obscene material and outlaws the dissemination of them via the postal service or interstate commerce. At the time, the United States is the only western nation to enact laws criminalizing birth control.
1914*
* Margaret Sanger coins the term "birth control" and dares to use the phrase in the June 1914 issue of her journal “The Woman Rebel” which outlines how to make and use contraceptives. For this crime and others, Sanger is indicted for nine violations of the Comstock Law. Rather than face the charges, she flees the country to continue her work in England.
1915
Anthony Comstock dies, but his anti-birth control laws remain entrenched. In New York City a group of women form the National Birth Control League, an antecedent of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
1921
Margaret Sanger establishes the American Birth Control League, the antecedent of the Planned Parent Federation of America.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
1923
Margaret Sanger successfully opens the first legal birth control clinic in the U.S. with the stated intent of only using contraceptives for medical purposes, such as the prevention of life-threatening pregnancies and in accordance with the Crane decision.
1928
Almost 30 years after the discovery of hormones, scientists at the University of Rochester in New York identify progesterone, the ovarian hormone. They conclude that this hormone plays a crucial role in preparing the womb for and sustaining a pregnancy.
1950s
Americans spend an estimated $200 million a year on contraceptives. Due to massive improvements over the past decade in condom quality and a growing awareness of the inadequacies of douches, "rubbers" are the most popular form of birth control on the market. Although the vast majority of doctors approve of birth control for the good of families, anti-birth control laws on the books in thirty states still prohibit or restrict the sale and advertisement of contraceptive devices. It is a felony in Massachusetts to "exhibit, sell, prescribe, provide, or give out information" about them. In Connecticut, it is a crime for a couple to use contraception.
1951
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America runs 200 birth control clinics. Margaret Sanger has been successful in fighting legal restrictions on contraceptives, and birth control has gained wide acceptance in America. Still, Sanger remains deeply unsatisfied, because women have no better methods for birth control than they did when she first envisioned "the pill" over 40 years earlier. Margaret Sanger manages to secure a tiny grant for Gregory Pincus from Planned Parenthood, and Pincus begins initial work on the use of hormones as a contraceptive at The Worcester Foundation. Pincus sets out to prove his hypothesis that injections of the hormone progesterone will inhibit ovulation and thus prevent pregnancy in his lab animals. Pincus goes to the drug company G.D. Searle and requests additional funding from them for the pill project. Searle's director of research tells Pincus that his previous work on an oral hormonal contraceptive for women was "a lamentable failure" and refuses to invest in the project.
1953*
* Katharine McCormick, millionaire philanthroper and heir to the International Harvester fortune writes Gregory Pincus a check for a huge sum -- $40,000 -- with assurances she will provide him with all the additional funding he will need. The Pill project is restarted.
1954
The Pill regimen still in use today is established for only 21 days, followed by a 7-day break to allow for menstruation. They know the Pill will be controversial and want oral progesterone to be seen as a "natural " process, not something that interferes with the normal menstrual cycle.
1956*
* Enovid is the first birth control submitted for FDA approval in America.
1957
The FDA approves the use of Enovid for the treatment of severe menstrual disorders and requires the drug label to carry the warning that Enovid will prevent ovulation.
1959
Less than two years after FDA approval of Enovid for therapeutic purposes, an unusually large number of American women mysteriously develop severe menstrual disorders and ask their doctors for the drug. By late 1959, over half a million American women are taking Enovid, presumably for the "off-label" contraceptive purposes.
1960s
Enovid is approved for the purposes of contraception by the FDA.
1962
1.2 million American women on the Pill.
1963
Around 2.3 million American women on the Pill.
1964
One quarter of all couples in America using birth control choose the Pill.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
1965*
* Just five years after the Pill's FDA approval, more than 6.5 million American women are taking oral contraceptives, making the Pill the most popular form of birth control in the U.S. Searle still dominates the market, and does $89 million in sales of Enovid.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
1967
Over 12.5 million women worldwide are on the Pill.
1968
Sales of the Pill hit the $150 million mark. American women can now select from 7 different brands.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
1982
The Pill's impact on women in the workforce is significant. With highly effective birth control now at their disposal, 60% of women of reproductive age are employed in America.
1984
An estimated 50 to 80 million women worldwide take the Pill.
2014*
* Male Contraceptive Initiative was founded in an effort to provide funding and advocacy support for the research and development of new non-hormonal, reversible methods of male contraception.
