In the flood of media commemorating the 50th anniversary of FDA approval of the birth control pill, this story from the Washington Post about its newest iteration may just slide under your radar: FDA approves new birth control pill from Bayer.
Bayer, as you may recall, is the manufacturer of Yaz and Yasmin, which is currently facing more than 1100 U.S. lawsuits and two Canadian class action suits. The new drug, Natazia, contains various dosing of estrogen and progestin throughout the cycle, making it the first four-phase hormonal contraceptive. The new pill uses dienogest, rather than drospirenone, the synthetic progestin in Yaz that is the apparent source of its dangerous side effects. The most common side effects of Natazia in clinical trials included irregular bleeding, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
Yaz and Yasmin are Bayer’s best-selling prescriptions, by the way – combined sales for 2009 were $1.64 billion.
