Gossypol: reasons for its failure to be accepted as a safe, reversible male antifertility drug

Following clinical trials conducted in China in the 1970s, gossypol was proposed as a drug for male contraceptive use. This review summarizes the extensive investigations on formal animal toxicology and on the recovery of fertility in men after stopping gossypol treatment which led to the decision by the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) at the World Health Organization (WHO), that gossypol would not be acceptable as an antifertility drug. It is concluded that the assessment of gossypol reinforces the mandatory requirement that future contraceptive drugs must be developed by the established routes of appropriate animal toxicology and phased clinical studies.