Medicines360 is a non-profit pharmaceutical company that addresses unmet needs of women by developing innovative, affordable and sustainable medical solutions.

Why we exist

Medicines360 is a new type of pharmaceutical company: a social enterprise developing effective, affordable and sustainable medical solutions for all women.  We’re also a nonprofit company working toward self-sustainability through commercial sales revenue. Profit is a means of achieving our mission, not our motive; we exist to meet medical needs of all women. 

We are creating a model where a woman’s investment in her own health solutions will subsidize products for those unable to buy their own. We listen and respond to women’s unmet medical needs, and work to make a difference in areas where the impact is most profound. That’s why Medicines360 will focus initially on addressing a rising epidemic in our society: unplanned and unintended pregnancies.

For more information, see The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy.
 

Rising Epidemic

Globally, more than 215 million women around the world lack access to viable contraceptive options(1) resulting in 20 million unsafe abortions every year.(2) In the United States, nearly 50% of pregnancies are unplanned with 40% of these ending in abortion.(3) 46% of U.S. women having abortions did not use contraception the month they became pregnant.(4)  Part of the explanation for these unplanned pregnancies is that the use of long-acting contraception is extremely low compared to other industrialized countries: only 5.5% of U.S. women are using an IUD.(5)  

Sources: Bayer Schering Pharma, 2006 Pan EU Study on Female Contraception; Mosher & Jones, 2010 Use of Contraception in the United States: 1982-2008; UN Contraception Prevalence Data

IUD use is low, but also troubling is that the U.S. lags behind in its ability to ensure positive reproductive health outcomes.  The U.S. adolescent fertility rate is alarmingly high compared to other industrialized countries, as is the number of mothers that die in child birth.    

Source: Global Health Observatory, WHO (2009). Downloaded 06-01-2010.

U.S. women are falling behind their peers in other nations with respect to health care access and outcomes for many reasons, including high costs, product availability, and lack of education.    
 

The M360 Solution

 
We can do better in the 21st century. Our LNG20 Intrauterine System (IUD), a long-acting, reversible contraceptive, is currently in Phase III clinical trials.  This product is designed to offer a safe and effective low-cost alternative to all women based on ability to pay. Currently, an IUD costs around $840 for the device, plus an additional several hundred dollars in medical fees to pay for insertion, an exam, and associated lab tests. Medicines360’s unique hybrid business model and tiered pricing will enable us to sell our products for little cost to those who can’t afford the current options. We will provide affordable medical solutions to both the commercial and public sectors. We are not focused on making a profit; we are focused on bringing life-changing healthcare products to all women.

1.  Singh S. et al., Adding It Up: The Costs and benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and newborn

      Health, New York: Guttmacher Institute and United Nations Population Fund, 2009.
2.  HRP. "Preventing unsafe abortion". WHO. 6-1-2010.
3.  Finer, LB, and SK Henshaw. "Disparities in Rates of Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001."

     Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 38.2 (2006): 90-96.
4.  Jones, RK, JE Darroch, and SK Henshaw. "Contraceptive Use among U.S. Women Having Abortions in 2000–

     2001." Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 34.6 (2002): 294-303.
5. Mosher WD and Jones J. Use of Contraception in the United States: 1982-2008. National Center for Health

     Statistics. Vital Health Stat 23 (29). 2010.