Male Contractive Research Consortium

The MCRC is developing STOPSPERM bioportide technologies to inhibit sperm motility as a novel male contraceptive modality. The consortium, comprising complementary teams in the UK and Portugal, has identified several lead compounds and is now seeking to develop these towards a clinically useful formulation. Partners can become involved in the project through the routes of sponsorship, research collaboration and various partnering opportunities.

• Silva, J.V, Freitas, M.J., Santiago, J., Jones, S., Guimarães, S., Vijayaraghavan, S., Publicover, S., Colombo, G., Howl, J. & Fardilha, M. (2021) Modulation of Phosphoprotein Phosphatase 1 complexes using bioportides as a novel approach to target sperm motility. Fertility and Sterility, 115, 348-362. 
• Howl, J., Silva, J.V., Fardilha, M. & Jones S. (2021) Protein mimicry and the design of bioactive cell penetrating peptides: The genesis of STOPSPERM bioportides. In, Cell-Penetrating Peptides, Methods and Protocols, Third Edition (Langel, Ü ed), in press.

Peptides modulating sperm motility by modulating the phosphoprotein phosphatase 1 complex. International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2018/052046. 

The MCRC is actively seeking research collaborations to further investigate the activities of bioportides in spermatozoa and other cellular systems. Sponsorship will help us to achieve our goal of progressing this technology through to early stage clinical trials.

We also seek mutually beneficial industrial partnerships to progress this technology towards a regulatory submission and beyond.