Scientists look for backing for ‘safer’ pill

Developers behind a new contraceptive pill that could prove safer than existing treatments say they are now looking for a company to commercialise the drug.

Scientist at Edinburgh University have created a pill that they say dramatically reduces the risk of breast cancer and blood clots in comparison with standard pills and could even have a beneficial effect.

Harnessing the drug mifepristone, or RU486, the pill has been created by Edinburgh’s emeritus professor of reproductive endocrinology, David Baird.

Professor Baird says the research team are now looking for a pharmaceutical firm to help develop the pill, 50 years after the first contraceptive pill went into testing.

“If you could develop a pill which significantly reduces the risk of breast cancer, it would be a bestseller,” he commented.

“It is theoretically possible to design a type of pill that is not only safe but also protects against these long-term risks.”

The introduction of the contraceptive pill to British society in the 1960s after years of testing marked an important pharmaceutical and social milestone, with more than three million women now using them according to the Family Planning Association.

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