One of the contraceptive pills developed monthly by an American medical team has been tested on animals for a month, the BBC's news portal wrote.
After ingestion, the pill stays in the stomach for several weeks and slowly releases hormones that prevent pregnancy. It is designed to withstand stomach acid attacks.
The study, which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was tested on pigs. Researchers hope that human clinical trials can begin within a few years.
The effectiveness of a traditional tablet - used by millions of women worldwide - is 99 percent, meaning less than one in 100 users. However, according to studies, almost half of those taking the pill miss a day or take the pill at the wrong time, reducing its effectiveness to 91 percent, which means that about nine in every hundred will become pregnant while taking it.
Longer term methods already exist, including bimonthly injection or weekly patch replacement, but there are no oral contraceptive pills once a month.
Giovanni Traverso, of Harvard Medical University, developed the tablet together with colleagues at Massachusetts University of Technology. He said the tests proved to be safe and did not cause digestive problems.
The results of the tests were published in the current issue of Science of Translational Medicine.
(Source: marmalade.co.uk; hirado.com | Image: pixabay.com)