The possibility of a greater balance to the contraceptive burden in future may be coming, after American scientists say they've developed a pill for men that's 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancies in mice.

The new contraceptive pill will be revealed at the American Chemical Society's spring meeting by a team from the University of Minnesota.

They say the new non-hormonal pill had prevented pregnancies in mice without obvious side effects.

Dr Abdullah Al Noman, a graduate student at the university who will present the findings, said researchers hoped they could begin human trials in the latter half of this year.

He told AFP multiple studies had shown men were interested in sharing the responsibility of birth control with their partners.

"But until now, there have been only two effective options available: condoms or vasectomies."

Al Noman said the University of Minnesota's pill didn't want to target the male sex hormone testosterone like other medicines that were undergoing clinical trials.

That was because trying to lower testosterone levels could cause weight gain, depression and other side effects.

Instead, the non-hormonal pill used a chemical known as YCT529. In trials, when administered orally to male mice for four weeks, researchers found the compound drastically reduced sperm counts.

Researchers said once the animals had been taken off the drug, they could father babies in about four to six weeks.

Female birth control pills were approved in the 1960s. These pills use hormones to disrupt the menstrual cycle, causing side effects like weight gain, mood swings, nausea and depression.

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