Women can buy Maxwellia’s Lovima® contraceptive pill from pharmacies without a prescription for first time in UK history

• Praetura Ventures-backed Maxwellia granted licence by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for Lovima^® contraceptive pill
• Reclassification one of the biggest revolutions in women’s health in the 60 years since the pill was first launched in the UK^[1]

Women can now buy a contraceptive pill over the counter without a prescription following a consultation with a pharmacist after the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted a licence to Maxwellia’s Lovima^®.

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This reclassification of the daily progestogen-only pill is one of the biggest revolutions in women’s health in the 60 years since the pill was first launched in the UK^[2], finally putting more women even more in charge of their daily contraception by widening access.

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For the first time, this game-changing decision allows women to buy Lovima^® over the counter from a local British high street or supermarket pharmacy without needing a prescription from a doctor or sexual health clinic.

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The licence was granted following a three-week public consultation triggered by a reclassification request spearheaded by Maxwellia, a pioneering British pharma company which is backed by venture capital investor, Praetura Ventures. The move has been welcomed by women’s health organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) which have been campaigning tirelessly to make the progestogen-only pill available without prescription at pharmacies to improve contraception access for women.^{[3] [4]}

Figures show more than a third of women are unable to access contraception services and half of all UK pregnancies are unplanned, costing the NHS around £240 million each year.^[5] Women spend 30 years of their lives on average trying to avoid an unplanned pregnancy^[6] and the UK still has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe, with rates up to five times higher than some other countries.^[7]

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The decision comes as new research commissioned by Lovima^® found that almost three quarters (70%) of women who have used contraception agree the contraceptive pill should be easier to get hold of and more widely available. The survey, which questioned 1,009 women in the UK aged 18-55, also found that nearly half (48%) would be deterred from getting contraception because it’s difficult or too time consuming or because it’s inconvenient to get a GP or sexual health clinic appointment. Nearly half (44%) said they would be willing to pay to get the contraception they need more quickly and easily.

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Two thirds (67%) of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed who have used contraception admit having had difficulty getting hold of it, with a third (29%) having less predictable periods, one in five (21%) left feeling anxious, 16% having more risks with their sexual health, 14% having had a pregnancy scare and 11% having to get the morning after pill.^[8]

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Maxwellia founder and CEO, Anna Maxwell, a registered pharmacist, says: “This decision is game-changing for many women who, for the first time in history, can now buy this form of oral contraception from their local pharmacy. It is clear that the limited and restricted way women can currently access contraception isn’t working for many of them. When the contraceptive pill was first made available in the UK 60 years ago this year, doctors were only allowed to prescribe it to married women. This is 2021. We have liberated this pill Lovima^®, containing desogestrel 75mcg, from prescription status, so women can live the lifestyle they want, be in charge of their body and decide when or if they have a baby – and that includes choosing to buy Lovima^® following a consultation with their pharmacist.”

In April 2021, Maxwellia secured investment of £3.2m, with £1.7m coming from Manchester-based Praetura Ventures, a venture capital fund that targets early-stage businesses in high-growth sectors. With a robust pipeline, the business will use the funding to scale up the manufacture and rollout of its drugs following MHRA approval, invest in marketing and expand its team. As part of the investment, Praetura Ventures’ director Dr Andy Round became a non-executive director for the business.

Dr Andy Round said: “This latest break-through is a fantastic achievement for Anna and the team, and a real milestone on their journey towards transforming personal healthcare for millions of people across the country. Maxwellia is on course to make its mark in the pharmaceutical switching market with its revolutionary pipeline and its vision to improve the shape of public health through wider and more convenient access to certain medicines through pharmacies. We look forward to supporting the team on its mission in the future.”

Lovima^® will be available from UK pharmacies, including Lloyds and Superdrug, from the end of July at a retail price of around £10 per month. Women can get Lovima^® from their local pharmacy, following a consultation with their pharmacist. Maxwellia has also developed a checklist online for women to complete beforehand to aid the consultation, found at www.lovima.com. Maxwellia is dedicated to helping break down contraception access barriers faced by women by launching Lovima^® into pharmacies and supporting greater sexual health education and awareness.

^[1] BBC News: 1961: Birth control pill ‘available to all’. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm [accessed 17 March 2021]

² BBC News: 1961: Birth control pill ‘available to all’. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm [accessed 17 March 2021]

³ RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

⁴ FSRH (June 2020) Restoration of SRH Services during Covid-19 and Beyond. Available at: https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-position-restoration-srh-services-covid-19  [accessed 17 March 2021]

⁵ RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

⁶ RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

⁷ Eurostat: your key to European statistics (2017) Teenage and older mothers in the EU. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20170808-1 8th August 2017 [accessed 17 March 2021]

⁸ Maxwellia Lovima survey conducted by Censuswide w/e 27th November 2020, 1,009 total UK female respondents aged 18-55

[1] BBC News: 1961: Birth control pill ‘available to all’. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm [accessed 17 March 2021]

[2] BBC News: 1961: Birth control pill ‘available to all’. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/4/newsid_3228000/3228207.stm [accessed 17 March 2021]

[3] RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

[4] FSRH (June 2020) Restoration of SRH Services during Covid-19 and Beyond. Available at: https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-position-restoration-srh-services-covid-19  [accessed 17 March 2021]

[5] RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

[6] RCOG (2019) Better for women report. Available at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women [accessed 17 March 2021]

[7] Eurostat: your key to European statistics (2017) Teenage and older mothers in the EU. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20170808-1 8th August 2017 [accessed 17 March 2021]

[8] Maxwellia Lovima survey conducted by Censuswide w/e 27th November 2020, 1,009 total UK female respondents aged 18-55