The Pill – reliability in a blister pack

One in two women in Germany use the contraceptive pill to protect themselves reliably against pregnancy. This was the result of a recent survey by the German Center for Health Education – and it’s a figure that Schering could only have dreamed of at the start. The Berlin, Germany-based company, now operating as Bayer Schering Pharma, brought the Pill onto the market in Germany one year after the first product for hormonal contraception was approved for use in the United States. The Schering product was named Anovlar. It was officially approved for the treatment of menstrual disorders and could be prescribed only to married women with their husbands’ permission.
 
Although the media welcomed the product as a major step forward, it took years for the Pill to become a widely used method of contraception and a symbol of change in western society. Family planning with the Pill allows women to decide for themselves whether and when to have children, how many children they want, and when they are going to focus more on their careers.

The Pill is also greatly helping women in developing countries. “As the global market leader in contraceptives, we aim to make family planning methods more accessible, irrespective of women’s economic situation,” says Philip Smits, Head of Women’s Healthcare at Bayer Schering Pharma. Against this background, Bayer is collaborating with organizations such as the U.S. development agency USAID to distribute hormonal contraceptives free of charge or at reduced prices.
 
Research carried out over the past 50 years has also greatly diminished the side-effects associated with oral contraceptives. This is mainly because the amount of hormones contained in the pills has been drastically reduced. Today women can choose from a wide range of products. The type of active ingredients, dosage and administration patterns of modern pills are designed to meet individual expectations. In some countries the Pill is also approved in additional indications, such as the treatment of acne.

Oral contraceptives of the latest generation are currently Bayer Schering Pharma’s top-selling products, with revenues of over €1.2 billion in 2009. According to Smits, Bayer Schering Pharma sold around 450 million cycle packs of contraceptive pills in 2009. This means that 34 million women in the industrialized countries are using the company’s oral contraceptives.
 
If non-oral contraceptives such as Mirena® are added to this figure, there are over 50 million women in the world who rely on Bayer Schering Pharma for their family planning needs. “Women all over the world trust the Pill,“ Smits says. “That’s something we are very proud of. It confirms that we have understood women’s requirements with respect to contraceptives and that we are able to meet their needs by developing innovative products.”