U.S. regulators approved Perrigo Co.’s Opill for over-the-counter use, making it the first daily oral birth-control product to be available without a prescription in the U.S.
While Americans have had access to Opill with a prescription since 1973, reproductive rights advocates have long argued that oral contraception should be available over the counter, as is the case in more than 100 countries. The decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration widens access to the drug by removing substantial barriers to obtaining oral contraception, such as inability to get a doctor’s appointment.
Shares of Perrigo rose 7% before U.S. markets opened.
Perrigo’s product has the “potential to radically transform women’s access to contraception,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Lockwood-Taylor said in a statement.
