The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is all set to approve a pill that doubles up as a birth control one besides stopping periods altogether. The drug called Lybrel is manufactured by Wyeth and is the first pill that would be taken continuously as opposed to the standard 21 daily active pills and seven sugar pills to mirror a woman's monthly period.
If approved Lybrel will be the fourth such drug following Yaz and Loestrin 24, which shorten menstrual periods to less than three days and another drug called Seasonique. The latter limits periods to just four times in a year.
Lybrel contains lowest dose permissible of the two main hormones that are used in birth control, namely ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel. Lybrel is supposed to reduce some 17 symptoms related to periods including bloating and irritability, Wyeth said.
The drug could hit markets in July, but Wyeth has said it intends to market it among doctors first. The clinical trial that tested Lybrel had 59 percent of women stop bleeding, while some 18 percent stopped the drug because of spotting, Wyeth revealed.
