Innovative Partnership to Deliver Convenient Contraceptives to up to Three Million Women

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Innovative Partnership to Deliver Convenient

Contraceptives to up to Three Million Women

PR Newswire

LONDON, July 11, 2012

- Three-month contraceptive with novel injection device to be made available in

up to six countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

LONDON

,

July 11, 2012

/PRNewswire/ -- Public and private partners today

announced plans to collaborate to reach approximately three million women in

sub-Saharan Africa and

South Asia

from 2013-2016 with up to 12 million doses

of an injectable contraceptive at affordable price levels. The partnership

includes the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), the U.S.

Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Population

Fund (UNFPA), Pfizer, PATH, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Initial

countries interested in taking part include

Senegal

and

Nigeria

.

The announcement, made today at the London Summit on Family Planning, is

part of a new, coordinated effort to ensure that voluntary family planning

services reach an additional 120 million women and girls in the world's poorest

countries by 2020. More than 150 leaders from donor and developing

countries, international agencies, civil society, foundations and the private

sector also pledged their support to improving access to family planning

information, services and supplies.

"Working with local partners in

Africa

and

South Asia

, we have learned that

many women want to use injectable contraceptives but simply cannot get

access to them," said PATH President and CEO Steve Davis. "This program,

including PATH's field studies, will ensure effective family planning tools reach

women who need them while saving women valuable time and resources that it

would otherwise take to reach a clinic."

The product prevents pregnancy for three months with a single injection using

the pre-filled, auto-disable Uniject™ device. In addition to delivering the

product, partners are planning to provide complementary family planning

information and services to help expand choice and access for the poorest

women and hard to reach communities.

"Every woman, no matter how rich or poor, should have access to her

preferred method of contraception to determine the number and timing of her

children," said Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the Bill & Melinda

Gates Foundation. "This innovative partnership will bring modern contraceptive

technology to women living in some of the world's most remote regions."

Injectable contraception is a popular form of contraception among women in

developing countries. In some places, women must return to a clinic every

three months for a new injection from a skilled health worker, or to a health

post to be served by a community health worker, limiting access in remote and

other hard to reach areas. The proposed contraceptive's unique delivery

system makes it more portable than many other options, allowing injections to

be provided by health workers to women at home or in other convenient

settings.

The contraceptive product combines a reformulation of Pfizer's Depo-Provera®

(medroxyprogesterone acetate) contraceptive with the Uniject injection system,

originally developed by PATH with support from USAID, which allows the

contraceptive to be administered via subcutaneous injection.[1]

Under the partnership, Pfizer is currently seeking approval from the relevant

authorities in European and African states. Subject to these approvals, the

product could be registered and available in initial countries in sub-Saharan

Africa by mid-2013.

Enrico Liggeri, Pfizer's Country Lead,

Nigeria

, East Africa Regions, said: "Pfizer is

committed to increasing access in developing countries to its portfolio of

reproductive health products. While the industry can take the lead in

developing products suited to the needs of the market, it is largely through

innovative Private Public Partnerships instead of donations alone that we can

ensure the long term viability of the supply and distribution, and at the same

time the sustainability of education toward healthier reproductive lifestyles."

Research is currently underway that is expected to inform the rollout, including

studies to better understand women's and providers' acceptability of the

product. The research will also provide important guidance for the introduction

of the method at country, community, facility, and local levels including training

on counseling and injection delivery, delivery logistics, and waste management.

"Access to modern contraception is crucial to helping the millions of poor

women who want to be able to decide when, whether and how many children

to have.

Britain

is working with the private sector to find innovative solutions

that will enable women to make the decisions about their families which many

of us take for granted," said Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for the UK's

Department for International Development.

"USAID provided more than 15 years of technical oversight and funding support

to advance this technology," noted USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah. "This

product is one of a number that we are supporting that expand contraceptive

method choice, respond to women's needs, and help make methods more

accessible to more than 200 million women in the poorest countries of the

world who lack adequate access to contraceptives."

For more information on the introduction of this product, visit

http://www.path.org/projects/uniject-dmpa.php

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing

countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance

to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In

the United States

, it

seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—

have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based

in

Seattle, Washington

, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair

William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren

Buffett.

For further information please contact: [e-mail]

UK Department for International Development (DFID)

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK

government's effort to fight global poverty. DFID's overall aim is to reduce

poverty in poorer countries, in particular through achieving the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs). This will be done by honouring the UK's

international commitments; making British aid more effective by improving

transparency and value for money; leading international action to improve the

lives of girls and women; strengthening governance and security in fragile and

conflict-affected countries; boosting wealth creation; and driving urgent action

to tackle climate change.

For further information please contact the DFID press office: [phone]-

0600

US Agency for International Development (USAID)

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) oversees and

implements international development programs for the U.S. government.

USAID's work in development joins diplomacy and defense as one of three key

pieces of the nation's foreign policy apparatus. USAID promotes peace and

stability by fostering economic growth, protecting human health, providing

emergency humanitarian assistance, and enhancing democracy in developing

countries. These efforts to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide

represent U.S. values and advance U.S. interests for peace and prosperity.

USAID provides assistance in sub- Saharan Africa,

Asia

and the Near East,

Latin

America

and the

Caribbean

, and

Europe

and Eurasia. With headquarters in

Washington, D.C.

, USAID's strength is its field offices in many regions of the

world.

USAID media relations:

Nicole Schiegg

Phone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development

agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life

of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population

data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every

pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of

HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

UNFPA media relations:

Omar Gharzeddine

Phone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world™

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to improve health and

well-being at every stage of life. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety

and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines for

people and animals. Our diversified global health care portfolio includes human

and animal biologic and small molecule medicines and vaccines, as well as

nutritional products and many of the world's best-known consumer products.

Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to

advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most

feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as the world's

leading biopharmaceutical company, we also collaborate with health care

providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access

to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years,

Pfizer has worked to make a difference for all who rely on us.

Pfizer media relations:

Andrew Widger Director, Media Relations Europe,

Middle East

,

Africa

Mobile: [phone]

Direct Line: [phone]

PATH

PATH is an international nonprofit organization that transforms global health

through innovation. PATH takes an entrepreneurial approach to developing and

delivering high-impact, low-cost solutions, from lifesaving vaccines and devices

to collaborative programs with communities. Through its work in more than 70

countries, PATH and its partners empower people to achieve their full potential.

For more information, please visit www.path.org

PATH media relations:

Amy MacIver, Director of Media Relations

Phone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

[1] Depo-Provera is an intramuscular contraception. This reformulation and

device delivers the contraceptive subcutaneously.