Meet the Wolverhampton scientists who've made a breakthrough on the 'male pill'

A giant step forward has been made towards the introduction of a 'male pill' after scientists discovered they can temporarily switch off sperm's ability to swim.

A team from the University of Wolverhampton, led by Professor Jon Howl and Dr Sarah Jones, together with IVF experts from the Aveiro University in Portugal, found that cell penetrating peptides can be designed to alter the physiology and fertilization capacity of sperm.

Using the peptides, the team believe they can temporarily stop sperm from being able to swim, with only short term side-effects for the user.

Although it is too early to say if the end result of their work would come in the form of a pill, a nasal spray or a sub-skin implant, they are all possibilities at present.

Dr Jones said: "We are basically designing peptides that can alter the physiology of sperm.

"Ironically, sperm are notoriously difficult to penetrate, but with cell penetrating peptides we are now able to cross an otherwise impermeable barrier to manipulate the intracellular biology of sperm so as to enhance or inhibit motility.

"We hope to develop something that will be clinically useful and can be taken forward in the future."

Male infertility is often the result of poorly moving sperm, called 'low motility' and the Wolverhampton team have managed to get inside sperm and bring them to a standstill.

However, the effects could wear off within days, whereas women are typically advised to stop taking the pill weeks or even months before trying to conceive.

With global sales of contraceptives topping £13 billion a year, the market for a reversible male contraceptive could be huge and plans are in place to start live animal tests within three years.

It typically takes three to five years to bring a new drug to market after animal trials, so the final product could be available as early as 2021.

Attempts to develop a male pill so far have been unsuccessful owing to alterations in male hormone levels which can be irreversible.

Cell penetrating peptides have the potential to change sperm motility, without affecting male hormonal control systems.

Dr Jones and Professor Howl are using bovine sperm but partners in Portugal have access to human sperm so can repeat the experiments conducted in UK for further testing.

Professor Howl, Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, said: "Dr Jones and I have proven, through extensive research studies, that it is feasible to design cell penetrating peptides to be biologically active.

"Such molecules, synthesized in our laboratory, represent a new class of agent that we have named bioportides.

"This state-of- the-art technology enables the control of processes that happen inside cells and which often represent intractable targets for conventional drugs."