New Frontiers in Contraceptive Research

More than a quarter of pregnancies worldwide are unintended. Between 1995 and2000, nearly 700,000 women died and many more experienced illness, injury, anddisability as a result of unintended pregnancy. Children born from unplanned conceptionare at greater risk of low birth weight, of being abused, and of not receivingsufficient resources for healthy development. A wider range of contraceptive optionsis needed to address the changing needs of the populations of the world across thereproductive life cycle, but this unmet need has not been a major priority of theresearch community and pharmaceutical industry. New Frontiers in ContraceptiveResearch: A Blueprint for Action, a new report from the Institute of Medicine of theNational Academies, identifies priority areas for research to develop new contraceptives.The report highlights new technologies and approaches to biomedicalresearch, including genomics and proteomics, which hold particular promise fordeveloping new products. It also identifies impediments to drug development thatmust be addressed. Research sponsors, both public and private, will find topics ofinterest among the recommendations, which are diverse but interconnected andimportant for improving the range of contraceptive products, their efficacy, andtheir acceptability.