Gates backs de­vel­op­ment work on a long-act­ing con­tra­cep­tive pill

The risk of preg­nan­cy is much low­er for women who take their oral con­tra­cep­tive pill cor­rect­ly — every day at about the same time. In the Unit­ed States, the pills are not avail­able over the counter, and these fac­tors con­tribute to poor med­ica­tion ad­her­ence, and in turn, un­want­ed preg­nan­cies. Lyn­dra Ther­a­peu­tics is work­ing on the fix — a pill that can be tak­en week­ly, or even month­ly.

In its quest, the Wa­ter­town, Mass­a­chu­setts-based drug de­vel­op­er has scored a $13 mil­lion grant from the Bill & Melin­da Gates Foun­da­tion.

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