MCI Awardees
Entrelac.coop - 2022 Grantee
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Entrelac.coopEntrelac.coop is a French Cooperative Society of Collective Interest promoting the development of the Androswitch, a wearable contraceptive device for men.
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Weill Cornell Medicine - 2022 Grantee
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Weill Cornell MedicineThe joint Levin-Buck laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine is working on inhibitors of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) as on-demand male contraceptives.
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Yale University - 2021 Seed Grant Awardee
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Yale UniversityDr. Jean-Ju Chung is an Associate Professor at Yale University, and is an expert in membrane ion channels, specifically the sperm-specific contraceptive target, CatSper.
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YourChoice Therapeutics - 2021 Discovery and Development Awardee
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YourChoice TherapeuticsDr. Nadja Mannowetz is the Chief Scientific Officer of YourChoice Therapeutics, who is working on a novel inhibitor of the male contraceptive target Retinoic Acid Receptor Alpha.
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - 2021 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDr. Rahima Benhabbour is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studies novel delivery platforms and polymer-based devices that can solve current limitations in drug delivery.
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Baylor College of Medicine - 2021 Grantee
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Baylor College of MedicineDr. Thomas Garcia is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine where he studies spermatogenesis and male reproductive tract-specific proteins through the lens of functional genomics and proteomics.
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University of Minnesota - 2018 Seed Grant Awardee & 2021 Program-Related Investment
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University of MinnesotaDr. Gunda Georg is a Regents Professor, Department Head, and Endowed Chair at the University of Minnesota. Her group has published over 200 scientific articles on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of biologically active agents such as male contraceptives.
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Contraline - 2019 Grantee & 2020 Program-Related Investment
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ContralineKevin Eisenfrats is the CEO and Co-Founder of Contraline, who is developing a reversible, non-hormonal contraceptive option for men that can last years. With an investment from MCI, their medical device ADAM™ is entering first-in-human studies and moving towards regulatory approval.
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Eppin Pharma - 2019, 2020 & 2021 Discovery and Development Awardee
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Eppin PharmaDr. O'Rand is the CEO of Eppin Pharma, who is developing a non-hormonal method of male contraception that may be usable either on-demand or as a daily pill. Nearing first-in-human studies, they represent the forefront of pharmacologic, non-hormonal male contraceptive methods.
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The Jackson Laboratory - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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The Jackson LaboratoryDr. Robert Braun is a Senior Advisor and Janeway Distinguished Chair at the Jackson Laboratory. His work focuses on the biological basis of development, and the use of mouse models to study fertility and contraception in innovative ways.
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina ExperimentalDr. Mariano Buffone is a Scientific Researcher from the National Research Council (CONICET) at Argentina’s Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET) in Buenos Aires. Mariano has been working in the field of sperm physiology for two decades, studying the complex process of mammalian sperm capacitation.
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Planned Parenthood North Central States - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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Planned Parenthood North Central StatesAlison Ojanen-Goldsmith, MPH, Research Scientist and Manager, and Asha Hassan, MPH, Associate Research Manager and Reproductive Health Equity Predoctoral Fellow are part of Planned Parenthood North Central States and explore the attitudes and preferences of contraceptive technologies among users.
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University of Massachusetts, Amherst - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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University of Massachusetts, AmherstDr. Pablo Visconti is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Focusing on reproductive biology and the process of sperm capacitation, his work elucidates the mechanism of action of many male contraceptive targets.
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Baylor College of Medicine - 2019 Discovery and Development Awardee
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Baylor College of MedicineDr. Stephen Palmer is an Associate Professor at the Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor College of Medicine. With 25 years experience across pharmaceutical discovery and start-ups, his work with Martin Matzuk uses powerful screening tools to find new drugs against male contraceptive targets.
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Emory University - 2019 Seed Grantee Awardee
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Emory UniversityDr. Steven L’Hernault is Professor and Chair of Biology and Emory University. Studying the basic mechanisms of spermatogenesis and fertility, he has discovered several contraceptive targets that can be developed for male methods.
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Wayne State University - 2019 Seed Grant Awardee
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Wayne State UniversityDr. Zhibing Zhang is an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His work focuses on studying the complex mechanisms of spermatogenesis, and how these mechanisms can be exploited to make new male contraceptives.
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MCI Awardees
Sacyl Pharmaceuticals - 2022 Grantee
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Sacyl PharmaceuticalsSacyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a cadre of experts developing inhibitors of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC; ADCY10) as on-demand male contraceptives.
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TriptoBIO - 2022 Discovery and Development Awardee
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TriptoBIOTriptoBIO is a biotechnology company focused on scalable and cost-efficient means of producing non-hormonal contraceptives using a yeast platform.
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Boston University - 2022 Seed Grant Awardee
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Boston UniversityDr. Deborah Anderson is a Professor of Medicine at Boston University working on novel contraceptive methods for men and women alike.
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University of Wolverhampton - 2022 Seed Grant Awardee
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University of WolverhamptonDr. John Howl is a Professor at the University of Wolverhampton, leveraging a unique cell-penetrating peptide to create a novel method of male contraception.
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Weill Cornell Medicine - 2022 Program Related Investment & Grant Awardee
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Weill Cornell MedicineThe joint Levin-Buck laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine is working on inhibitors of soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) as on-demand male contraceptives.
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Yale University - 2021 Seed Grant Awardee
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Yale UniversityDr. Jean-Ju Chung is an Associate Professor at Yale University, and is an expert in membrane ion channels, specifically the sperm-specific contraceptive target, CatSper.
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YourChoice Therapeutics - 2021 Discovery and Development Awardee
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YourChoice TherapeuticsDr. Nadja Mannowetz is the Chief Scientific Officer of YourChoice Therapeutics, who is working on a novel inhibitor of the male contraceptive target Retinoic Acid Receptor Alpha.
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - 2021 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDr. Rahima Benhabbour is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studies novel delivery platforms and polymer-based devices that can solve current limitations in drug delivery.
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Emory University - 2022 & 2019 Seed Grant Awardee
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Emory UniversityDr. Steven L’Hernault is Professor and Chair of Biology and Emory University. Studying the basic mechanisms of spermatogenesis and fertility, he has discovered several contraceptive targets that can be developed for male methods.
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Contraline - 2020 Program-Related Investment & 2019 Grantee
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ContralineKevin Eisenfrats is the CEO and Co-Founder of Contraline, who is developing a reversible, non-hormonal contraceptive option for men that can last years. With an investment from MCI, their medical device ADAM™ is entering first-in-human studies and moving towards regulatory approval.
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Eppin Pharma - 2022 Program Related Investment, 2021, 2020 & 2019 Discovery and Development Awardee
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Eppin PharmaDr. O'Rand is the CEO of Eppin Pharma, who is developing a non-hormonal method of male contraception that may be usable either on-demand or as a daily pill. Nearing first-in-human studies, they represent the forefront of pharmacologic, non-hormonal male contraceptive methods.
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The Jackson Laboratory - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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The Jackson LaboratoryDr. Robert Braun is a Senior Advisor and Janeway Distinguished Chair at the Jackson Laboratory. His work focuses on the biological basis of development, and the use of mouse models to study fertility and contraception in innovative ways.
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina ExperimentalDr. Mariano Buffone is a Scientific Researcher from the National Research Council (CONICET) at Argentina’s Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET) in Buenos Aires. Mariano has been working in the field of sperm physiology for two decades, studying the complex process of mammalian sperm capacitation.
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Planned Parenthood North Central States - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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Planned Parenthood North Central StatesAlison Ojanen-Goldsmith, MPH, Research Scientist and Manager, and Asha Hassan, MPH, Associate Research Manager and Reproductive Health Equity Predoctoral Fellow are part of Planned Parenthood North Central States and explore the attitudes and preferences of contraceptive technologies among users.
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University of Massachusetts, Amherst - 2020 Sokal Innovation Awardee
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University of Massachusetts, AmherstDr. Pablo Visconti is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Focusing on reproductive biology and the process of sperm capacitation, his work elucidates the mechanism of action of many male contraceptive targets.
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Vibliome Therapeutics - 2017 Discovery and Development Awardee
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Vibliome TherapeuticsDr. Rob Goodwin is the CEO of Vibliome Therapeutics, a start-up that’s developing inhibitors of a kinase essential for male fertility. Vibliome was MCI’s first major grant, and has since brought in MCI Fellow Aaron Crapster to serve as a Principal Scientist.
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental - 2018 Seed Grant Awardee
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Instituto de Biologia y Medicina ExperimentalDr. Patricia Cuasnicủ is a Senior Scientific Researcher from Argentina’s Instituto de Biologia y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET) in Buenos Aires. Patricia has been working in the field of male contraception since 1984, and has been a leader in the field, serving with a World Health Organization Task Force, CONRAD, and other organizations.
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Monash University - 2018 Seed Grant Awardee
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Monash UniversityDr. Sabatino Ventura is a Senior Lecturer at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Parkville, Australia, in Melbourne. Sab’s work focuses on smooth muscle contraction, and harnessing it in order to create a male contraceptive.
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University of Nevada, Reno - 2018 Seed Grant Awardee
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University of Nevada, RenoDr. Wei Yan, formerly of University of Nevada, Reno, is Professor of Medicine at UCLA where he focuses on the development and function of germ cells. Dr. Yan has published over 130 peer-reviewed research articles, and discovered a novel plant extract that could be utilized as a male contraceptive.
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Revolution Contraceptives - 2019 Grantee
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Revolution ContraceptivesDr. Linda Brent is the Executive Director of the Parsemus Foundation, and oversees the Vasalgel project run by Revolution Contraceptives. Their work seeks to bring a vas-occlusive, reversible method of contraception to users that could last for years.
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FHI 360 - 2019 Grantee
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FHI 360FHI 360 is an international nonprofit working to improve the health and well-being of people in the United States and around the world. Their focus on contraception includes development and access, but also the assessment of the acceptability and preferences of a variety of methods of contraception.
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University of Minnesota - 2021 Program-Related Investment & 2018 Seed Grant Awardee
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University of MinnesotaDr. Gunda Georg is a Regents Professor, Department Head, and Endowed Chair at the University of Minnesota. Her group has published over 200 scientific articles on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of biologically active agents such as male contraceptives.
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Baylor College of Medicine - 2021 Grantee
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Baylor College of MedicineDr. Thomas Garcia is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine where he studies spermatogenesis and male reproductive tract-specific proteins through the lens of functional genomics and proteomics.
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Wayne State University - 2019 Seed Grant Awardee
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Wayne State UniversityDr. Zhibing Zhang is an Associate Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. His work focuses on studying the complex mechanisms of spermatogenesis, and how these mechanisms can be exploited to make new male contraceptives.
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2022*
* On Friday, June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark piece of legislation that made access to an abortion a federal right in the United States. The decision dismantled 50 years of legal protection and paved the way for individual states to curtail or outright ban abortion rights.
2018
Recruitment for clinical trials of the hormonal male birth control gel NES/T begins.
2014
* Male Contraceptive Initiative was founded in an effort to provide funding and advocacy support for the research and development of new non-hormonal, reversible methods of male contraception.
1984
An estimated 50 to 80 million women worldwide take The Pill.
1982
The Pill's impact on women in the workforce is significant. With highly effective birth control now at their disposal, 60% of women of reproductive age are employed in America.
1968
Sales of the Pill hit the $150 million mark. American women can now select from 7 different brands.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
1967
Over 12.5 million women worldwide are on the Pill.
1965*
* Just five years after the Pill's FDA approval, more than 6.5 million American women are taking oral contraceptives, making the Pill the most popular form of birth control in the U.S. Searle still dominates the market, and does $89 million in sales of Enovid.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
1964
One quarter of all couples in America using birth control choose the Pill.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
1963
Around 2.3 million American women on the Pill.
1962
1.2 million American women on the Pill.
1960s
Enovid is approved for the purposes of contraception by the FDA.
1959
Less than two years after FDA approval of Enovid for therapeutic purposes, an unusually large number of American women mysteriously develop severe menstrual disorders and ask their doctors for the drug. By late 1959, over half a million American women are taking Enovid, presumably for the "off-label" contraceptive purposes.
1957
The FDA approves the use of Enovid for the treatment of severe menstrual disorders and requires the drug label to carry the warning that Enovid will prevent ovulation.
1956*
* Enovid is the first birth control submitted for FDA approval in America.
1954
The Pill regimen still in use today is established for only 21 days, followed by a 7-day break to allow for menstruation. They know the Pill will be controversial and want oral progesterone to be seen as a "natural " process, not something that interferes with the normal menstrual cycle.
1953
* Katharine McCormick, millionaire philanthroper and heir to the International Harvester fortune writes Gregory Pincus a check for a huge sum -- $40,000 -- with assurances she will provide him with all the additional funding he will need. The Pill project is restarted.
1951
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America runs 200 birth control clinics. Margaret Sanger has been successful in fighting legal restrictions on contraceptives, and birth control has gained wide acceptance in America. Still, Sanger remains deeply unsatisfied, because women have no better methods for birth control than they did when she first envisioned "the pill" over 40 years earlier. Margaret Sanger manages to secure a tiny grant for Gregory Pincus from Planned Parenthood, and Pincus begins initial work on the use of hormones as a contraceptive at The Worcester Foundation. Pincus sets out to prove his hypothesis that injections of the hormone progesterone will inhibit ovulation and thus prevent pregnancy in his lab animals. Pincus goes to the drug company G.D. Searle and requests additional funding from them for the pill project. Searle's director of research tells Pincus that his previous work on an oral hormonal contraceptive for women was "a lamentable failure" and refuses to invest in the project.
1950s
Americans spend an estimated $200 million a year on contraceptives. Due to massive improvements over the past decade in condom quality and a growing awareness of the inadequacies of douches, "rubbers" are the most popular form of birth control on the market. Although the vast majority of doctors approve of birth control for the good of families, anti-birth control laws on the books in thirty states still prohibit or restrict the sale and advertisement of contraceptive devices. It is a felony in Massachusetts to "exhibit, sell, prescribe, provide, or give out information" about them. In Connecticut, it is a crime for a couple to use contraception.
1928
Almost 30 years after the discovery of hormones, scientists at the University of Rochester in New York identify progesterone, the ovarian hormone. They conclude that this hormone plays a crucial role in preparing the womb for and sustaining a pregnancy.
1923
Margaret Sanger successfully opens the first legal birth control clinic in the U.S. with the stated intent of only using contraceptives for medical purposes, such as the prevention of life-threatening pregnancies and in accordance with the Crane decision.
1921
Margaret Sanger establishes the American Birth Control League, the antecedent of the Planned Parent Federation of America.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
1915
Anthony Comstock dies, but his anti-birth control laws remain entrenched. In New York City a group of women form the National Birth Control League, an antecedent of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
1914*
* Margaret Sanger coins the term "birth control" and dares to use the phrase in the June 1914 issue of her journal “The Woman Rebel” which outlines how to make and use contraceptives. For this crime and others, Sanger is indicted for nine violations of the Comstock Law. Rather than face the charges, she flees the country to continue her work in England.
1873
Congress passes the Comstock Law, an anti-obscenity act that specifically lists contraceptives as obscene material and outlaws the dissemination of them via the postal service or interstate commerce. At the time, the United States is the only western nation to enact laws criminalizing birth control.
1845-1872
The U.S. contraceptive industry flourishes. In addition to condoms (immediately known as "rubbers"), there's widespread sale and use of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, douching syringes, vaginal sponges, diaphragms and cervical caps (then called "womb veils"), and "male caps" that covered only the tip of the penis.
1844
Charles Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber. Soon, rubber condoms are mass produced. Unlike modern condoms -- made to be used once and thrown away -- early condoms were washed, anointed with petroleum jelly, and put away in special wooden boxes for later reuse. British playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw called the rubber condom the "greatest invention of the nineteenth century."
1838
A German doctor, Friedrich Wilde, offers patients a small cervical cap to cover the cervix between menstrual periods. This method is never widely adopted, but the "Wilde Cap," as it became known, is the precursor to the modern diaphragm.
1827
In a major scientific breakthrough, scientists discover the existence of the female egg -- the ovum. Prior to this, it is only known that semen must enter the female body for conception to occur. This is the first step in understanding the science of human reproduction.
1734
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova begins his amorous career, and is among the first to use condoms to prevent pregnancy. Said to prefer condoms made from lamb intestine -- still the preferred material for natural gut condoms -- he also used linen condoms tied off with a ribbon.
600 B.C.
Greek colonists in North Africa discover Silphion, reputedly the first oral contraceptive. Silphion was an herb -- thought to be a kind of giant fennel -- that grew only in the area now known as Libya. Despite heroic efforts, it could not be cultivated. Worth its weight in silver, silphion was harvested to extinction by 100 A.D.
3000 B.C.*
* The condom is invented in Egypt. Ancient drawings clearly depict men wearing condoms - sometimes made of material that may have been animal hide. It's not clear what they were made of -- or whether they were used for sex or ceremonial dress.
External Funding Opportunities
Contraceptive Development Research Center (P50 Clinical Trial Optional)
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support and facilitate multidisciplinary approaches towards the development of new and/or improved contraceptive methods for both men and women through the formation of a Contraceptive Development Research Center. This FOA also allows the inclusion of translational studies to facilitate the pre-clinical to clinical transition and increase the likelihood of clinical success. The Center will serve as a national resource for development of early stage investigators electing to pursue careers in contraceptive research.
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MCI's Impact
Male Contraceptive Initiative is committed to ensuring that every promising non-hormonal, reversible male contraceptive target receives the funding and advocacy support it needs in order to be fully vetted and commercially viable to the greatest degree possible. Practically speaking, this means that we support potential next generation contraceptives that span the depth and breadth of the product development timeline.
Doing so is a necessary step to ensuring that no promising target gets left behind so to speak, but it also means that many of the targets we are supporting still have years of research and development work to be done before they are even ready to be tested in humans, let alone readily available at your local clinic or pharmacy. This reality can be discouraging for some people given how many decades we have already waited for new methods of contraceptives for sperm-producers.
In an effort to offset these feelings of discouragement, and to help illustrate just how important your continued support to MCI is, we created the snapshots below to share tangible outcomes that would otherwise not have been possible without our collective efforts:
Doing so is a necessary step to ensuring that no promising target gets left behind so to speak, but it also means that many of the targets we are supporting still have years of research and development work to be done before they are even ready to be tested in humans, let alone readily available at your local clinic or pharmacy. This reality can be discouraging for some people given how many decades we have already waited for new methods of contraceptives for sperm-producers.
In an effort to offset these feelings of discouragement, and to help illustrate just how important your continued support to MCI is, we created the snapshots below to share tangible outcomes that would otherwise not have been possible without our collective efforts:
Workshop Agendas
Workshops provide a rich environment for collaboration and ideation. This is particularly true when thinking through new products or services, as well as for improving existing ones. They are a way of working a bit differently as a group and moving beyond “design thinking” and into “design doing”. Here we suggest different ways of integrating the activities and games in workshop settings of varying length to illustrate how their collective utility can help unpack the complexity of male contraception research and development, and move beyond the abstract to the tangible in developing new male contraceptive products. We will update this section with new and different workshop agendas, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.
Workshops provide a rich environment for collaboration and ideation. This is particularly true when thinking through new products or services, as well as for improving existing ones. They are a way of working a bit differently as a group and moving beyond “design thinking” and into “design doing”. Here we suggest different ways of integrating the activities and games in workshop settings of varying length to illustrate how their collective utility can help unpack the complexity of male contraception research and development, and move beyond the abstract to the tangible in developing new male contraceptive products. We will update this section with new and different workshop agendas, and encourage you to reach out to us with any suggestions on what you would like to see featured here.
History of Contraception
Contraception, including male methods, is nothing new: humans have been developing products in an effort to prevent pregnancy for millenia. We collated the timeline below to highlight some of the key moments of contraception research and development throughout history. (Please note that the entries marked with an * indicate important milestones for the field).
3000 BC*
* The condom is invented in Egypt. Ancient drawings clearly depict men wearing condoms - sometimes made of material that may have been animal hide. It's not clear what they were made of -- or whether they were used for sex or ceremonial dress.
600 BC
Greek colonists in North Africa discover Silphion, reputedly the first oral contraceptive. Silphion was an herb -- thought to be a kind of giant fennel -- that grew only in the area now known as Libya. Despite heroic efforts, it could not be cultivated. Worth its weight in silver, silphion was harvested to extinction by 100 A.D.
1734
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova begins his amorous career, and is among the first to use condoms to prevent pregnancy. Said to prefer condoms made from lamb intestine -- still the preferred material for natural gut condoms -- he also used linen condoms tied off with a ribbon.
1827
In a major scientific breakthrough, scientists discover the existence of the female egg -- the ovum. Prior to this, it is only known that semen must enter the female body for conception to occur. This is the first step in understanding the science of human reproduction.
1838
A German doctor, Friedrich Wilde, offers patients a small cervical cap to cover the cervix between menstrual periods. This method is never widely adopted, but the "Wilde Cap," as it became known, is the precursor to the modern diaphragm.
1844
Charles Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber. Soon, rubber condoms are mass produced. Unlike modern condoms -- made to be used once and thrown away -- early condoms were washed, anointed with petroleum jelly, and put away in special wooden boxes for later reuse. British playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw called the rubber condom the "greatest invention of the nineteenth century."
1845-1873
The U.S. contraceptive industry flourishes. In addition to condoms (immediately known as "rubbers"), there's widespread sale and use of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, douching syringes, vaginal sponges, diaphragms and cervical caps (then called "womb veils"), and "male caps" that covered only the tip of the penis.
1873
Congress passes the Comstock Law, an anti-obscenity act that specifically lists contraceptives as obscene material and outlaws the dissemination of them via the postal service or interstate commerce. At the time, the United States is the only western nation to enact laws criminalizing birth control.
1914*
* Margaret Sanger coins the term "birth control" and dares to use the phrase in the June 1914 issue of her journal “The Woman Rebel” which outlines how to make and use contraceptives. For this crime and others, Sanger is indicted for nine violations of the Comstock Law. Rather than face the charges, she flees the country to continue her work in England.
1915
Anthony Comstock dies, but his anti-birth control laws remain entrenched. In New York City a group of women form the National Birth Control League, an antecedent of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
1921
Margaret Sanger establishes the American Birth Control League, the antecedent of the Planned Parent Federation of America.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
In the 1920s, the U.S. birth rate drops by half. Condom reliability is still terrible by modern standards, but people achieved effective birth control by combining condoms, the rhythm method, male withdrawal, diaphragms, and/or intrauterine devices.
1923
Margaret Sanger successfully opens the first legal birth control clinic in the U.S. with the stated intent of only using contraceptives for medical purposes, such as the prevention of life-threatening pregnancies and in accordance with the Crane decision.
1928
Almost 30 years after the discovery of hormones, scientists at the University of Rochester in New York identify progesterone, the ovarian hormone. They conclude that this hormone plays a crucial role in preparing the womb for and sustaining a pregnancy.
1950s
Americans spend an estimated $200 million a year on contraceptives. Due to massive improvements over the past decade in condom quality and a growing awareness of the inadequacies of douches, "rubbers" are the most popular form of birth control on the market. Although the vast majority of doctors approve of birth control for the good of families, anti-birth control laws on the books in thirty states still prohibit or restrict the sale and advertisement of contraceptive devices. It is a felony in Massachusetts to "exhibit, sell, prescribe, provide, or give out information" about them. In Connecticut, it is a crime for a couple to use contraception.
1951
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America runs 200 birth control clinics. Margaret Sanger has been successful in fighting legal restrictions on contraceptives, and birth control has gained wide acceptance in America. Still, Sanger remains deeply unsatisfied, because women have no better methods for birth control than they did when she first envisioned "the pill" over 40 years earlier. Margaret Sanger manages to secure a tiny grant for Gregory Pincus from Planned Parenthood, and Pincus begins initial work on the use of hormones as a contraceptive at The Worcester Foundation. Pincus sets out to prove his hypothesis that injections of the hormone progesterone will inhibit ovulation and thus prevent pregnancy in his lab animals. Pincus goes to the drug company G.D. Searle and requests additional funding from them for the pill project. Searle's director of research tells Pincus that his previous work on an oral hormonal contraceptive for women was "a lamentable failure" and refuses to invest in the project.
1953*
* Katharine McCormick, millionaire philanthroper and heir to the International Harvester fortune writes Gregory Pincus a check for a huge sum -- $40,000 -- with assurances she will provide him with all the additional funding he will need. The Pill project is restarted.
1954
The Pill regimen still in use today is established for only 21 days, followed by a 7-day break to allow for menstruation. They know the Pill will be controversial and want oral progesterone to be seen as a "natural " process, not something that interferes with the normal menstrual cycle.
1956*
* Enovid is the first birth control submitted for FDA approval in America.
1957
The FDA approves the use of Enovid for the treatment of severe menstrual disorders and requires the drug label to carry the warning that Enovid will prevent ovulation.
1959
Less than two years after FDA approval of Enovid for therapeutic purposes, an unusually large number of American women mysteriously develop severe menstrual disorders and ask their doctors for the drug. By late 1959, over half a million American women are taking Enovid, presumably for the "off-label" contraceptive purposes.
1960s
Enovid is approved for the purposes of contraception by the FDA.
1962
1.2 million American women on the Pill.
1963
Around 2.3 million American women on the Pill.
1964
One quarter of all couples in America using birth control choose the Pill.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
The Pill becomes the most popular form of reversible birth control in America.
Despite general public approval for birth control, ghosts of the Comstock Laws linger. Eight states still prohibit the sale of contraceptives, and laws in Massachusetts and Connecticut still prevent the dissemination of information about birth control.
1965*
* Just five years after the Pill's FDA approval, more than 6.5 million American women are taking oral contraceptives, making the Pill the most popular form of birth control in the U.S. Searle still dominates the market, and does $89 million in sales of Enovid.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Comstock laws that banned contraception.
1967
Over 12.5 million women worldwide are on the Pill.
1968
Sales of the Pill hit the $150 million mark. American women can now select from 7 different brands.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr star in the Hollywood film Prudence and the Pill. Birth control, once considered obscene and vulgar, is now a pop culture icon.
1982
The Pill's impact on women in the workforce is significant. With highly effective birth control now at their disposal, 60% of women of reproductive age are employed in America.
1984
An estimated 50 to 80 million women worldwide take the Pill.
2014*
* Male Contraceptive Initiative was founded in an effort to provide funding and advocacy support for the research and development of new non-hormonal, reversible methods of male contraception.
