The Journey of the World’s First Non-Steroidal Contraceptive from Academic Venture to National Family Programme

Globally, pharma companies are channelizing their investments mainly in lifestyle disorders (obesity, depression, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory disorders) and cancer for higher returns^1,2. In recent years, though drug discovery for infectious diseases (especially viral and bacterial infections)^3,4 has received considerable public–private investments, most parasitic diseases and fertility control remains less remunerative areas for investments^1,2. These areas pose challenges for countries with inadequate access to life-saving and health-maintaining interventions. In the Indian context, our socio-economic structure has immensely affected investments in the health sector. Our total health expenditure and government’s contribution is significantly lagging behind other South- East Asian countries (Figure 1)⁵. A miniscule of this share is utilized for new drug discovery. Hence, it is unlikely that a private entity will step into financing and managing drug discovery R&D. Therefore, the government is expected to make necessary investments in new drug discoveries for affordable healthcare for the masses.