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Fortune

Maria Aspan, Kinsey Crowley

U.S. women need better birth control. So why is this contraceptive company 'on life support?'

Evofem Birth Control Evofem Biosciences Fortune Health Care

Saundra Pelletier, CEO of Evofem Biosciences. (Credit: Photograph by Jessica Pons for Fortune)

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Fortune's Best Companies to Work For list features two women-led companies in the top 10, the Biden administration is investing in repurposing coal mines, and Fortune's Maria Aspan reports on the big business problems for birth control companies. Have a great day!

- Birth control fail. Ten years ago, Saundra Pelletier joined what became Evofem Biosciences, a small pharma company focusing on women’s health. A passionate, tireless CEO—and a savvy, feminist marketer—Pelletier spent the next seven years in expensive regulatory limbo, fighting for FDA approval for Evofem’s first and only product. Finally, in 2020, Evofem was able to launch that drug, a nonhormonal contraceptive gel called Phexxi.

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