Aroundone - third of womentaking the oral contraceptive equipment tablet say they forget at least one dose each month . But perhaps presently , that awe of forgetting could be a affair of the past .
Scientists from MIT and Brigham and Women ’s Hospitalin Bostonhave made strong progress on their mission to develop a once - a - month oral contraceptive pill . Reporting their finding in the journalScience Translational Medicine , the team developed a drug - saving fomite that ’s capable to continue in the venter for a month and steadily free the unwritten contraceptive drug levonorgestrel .
It ’s still early years for the research – so far , the pill has only been tested in presymptomatic trials on pigs , an creature with a like GI tract to world – but the squad is surefooted their work has the potentiality to “ indue women ” and become a viable alternative to the one - a - day contraceptive pill .
" Our ejection seat act a major advancement toward providing women with a once - a - month contraceptive , " co - like source Giovanni Traverso , a gastroenterologist and physician - researcher at the Brigham and MIT , said in apress release .
" We began our work on extended drug release by work with treatment for malaria , tuberculosis and HIV . But betimes on , we were having conversations about the potential impact that extended drug firing could have for kinfolk provision . We want to facilitate endue women with regard to fertility control and are proud of to report our progress toward that goal , " they continued .
The fresh developed pill dwell of a “ gastric resident ” abridgment with numerous blazonry that are loaded with levonorgestrel . Once the tablet hit the tum , it unfolds the branch to have a duo that is larger than the possible action of the small intestine , allowing it to continue in the belly . Meanwhile , the tablet bit by bit let the blazon go one - by - one , releasing them further into the gut where they can be absorbed . IFLScience get in touch with the author for more specifics on this process , but they have yet to answer .
To test the efficiency of the oral contraceptive pill , the team gave pigs the levonorgestrel – half in an broaden - acquittance pill , one-half in a standard pill – and compare concentrations of the drug in their bloodstream . As hope , they team up find absorption of the drug for up to 29 day after the pigs swallowed the anovulant . Their tests also suggest the stuff used for the tablet are non - toxic .
The inquiry pave the way for human visitation . However , it might be some class until this discourse really cause it onto the shelves of pharmaceutics . Even if the scientific discipline checks out , the bureaucracy andbusiness of drug developmentcan be a long and arduous battle .
