Lybrel, a drug from Madison, New Jersey-based company Wyeth has become the first pill that can be taken daily to halt women's periods indefinitely and prevent pregnancies. It is also the fourth new oral contraceptive that does not follow the standard schedule of 21 daily active pills, followed by seven sugar pills, a formula used to imitate a woman's monthly cycle.
Other such pills in this category include Yaz and Loestrin 24, which shorten monthly periods to three days or less and Seasonique, an updated version of Seasonale that reduces them to four times a year.
Lybrel means to evoke "liberty," and was designed following a steady increase in women asking how to limit or completely stop their monthly periods. The new pill claims to not only suppresses woman's periods but also reduces 17 related symptoms, from irritability to bloating, based on one small study. The pill contains the lowest dose of two hormones widely used in birth-control pills, ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.
AP reports that the pill's manufacturer Wyeth plans to start Lybrel sales in July but has yet to determine a price for the 28-pill packs. Many experts also believe that the suppression of monthly periods is unnatural and that there's not enough data to determine if it is safe in the long-term.
Also, since Lybrel will halt women's regular periods, it may be difficult for them to recognize if they have become pregnant.
"Women who use Lybrel would not have a scheduled menstrual period, but will most likely have unplanned, breakthrough, unscheduled bleeding or spotting," Dr. Daniel Shames, a deputy director in the FDA's drugs office said.
The injectable hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provera also can halt monthly periods.
