Better Birth Control Could Exist, But It Wouldn’t Pay for Big Pharma

Since the contraceptive pill transformed women’s lives almost 60 years ago, there’s been precious little innovation in birth control for women. Now a company in San Diego claims to be on the verge of something that could advance the field: a gel women can apply an hour before sex, without having to mess with their hormones. “There hasn’t been innovation in this category in decades,” Evofem Biosciences Inc. Chief Executive Officer Saundra Pelletier says. “It’s time that women have the opportunity to have sex on demand, like men have had with condoms for years.”

That’s a powerful message. But look more closely and Evofem’s product, Amphora, is also a case study in why real advances in birth control are so rare. With plenty of consumer interest in an easier-to-manage female contraceptive, you’d think there’d be many more choices. Yet Amphora is a ­little-changed version of an over-the-counter lubricant cleared for sale more than a decade ago.