Scientists to develop once-a-month contraceptive pill

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing an oral contraceptive which women will only have to take once a month.

If successful, the researchers believe the contraceptive will help reduce unintended pregnancies and have a significant impact on the health of women, particularly in developing countries.

The effectiveness of current oral contraceptives depends on them being taken every day, and it’s thought that 9% of women taking them become pregnant each year.

Now, the MIT team is developing a contraceptive pill that can last for up to a month. The team is creating a gelatin-coated capsule which remains in the stomach for three to four weeks, slowly releasing a contraceptive drug.

The pill is based on previous research at MIT which focused on star-shaped drug delivery systems which remain in the digestive tract for days or weeks after being swallowed.

The capsule contains the same type of star-shaped drug delivery system, which expands after the gelatin has dissolved, lodging it in place and allowing the contraceptive drug to be slowly released.  

The drug delivery system is made out of two types of polyurethane which can withstand stomach acid for up to three to four weeks. To control the rate that the contraceptive drug is released, the researchers changed the concentrations of the polymers that they mixed with drug.

A study of the capsule in pigs showed that it could release the drug at a fairly constant rate for up to four weeks. The concentration of the drug in the pigs’ bloodstream was similar to the amount present after ingesting a levonorgestrel tablet – a current daily contraceptive pill.

“We are hopeful that this work — the first example ever of a month-long pill or capsule to our knowledge — will someday lead to potentially new modalities and options for women’s health as well as other indications,” says Robert Langer, senior author of the study and David H. Koch Institute professor at MIT.

The research has been largely funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Lyndra Therapeutics, which was founded by those involved in the research recently received a $13 million grant by the same foundation to further the research so the capsule can be tested in humans.

The company hopes to conduct human test within three to five years.

“Through the development of these technologies, we aim to transform people’s experience with taking medications by making it easier, with more infrequent dosing in the first once-a-month, orally delivered drug system. We’re very committed to getting these technologies to people over the coming years,” says Giovanni Traverso, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and founder of Lyndra Therapeutics.

The researchers also believe that the pill may appeal to women wanting a long-lasting oral contraceptive rather than an implanted device.

“Coming up with a monthly version of a contraceptive drug could have a tremendous impact on global health,” said Ameya Kirtane, a senior postdoc at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. “The impact that oral contraceptives can have on human health and gender equality cannot be overstated.”

“Even with all these long-acting devices available, there’s a certain population who prefers to take medications orally rather than have something implanted,” Kirtane added. “For those patients, something like this would be extremely helpful.”