A little more than half a year after winning a historic over-the-counter nod, Perrigo’s nonprescription birth control pill Opill is set to hit store shelves in the “coming weeks.”
Perrigo, which specializes in consumer self-care products, said Monday that Opill has been shipped to major retailers and pharmacies in the U.S. and will be available in stores and online later this month.
Greenlighted by the FDA last July, Opill boasts the distinction of being the first daily birth control pill available without a prescription in the U.S. Effective immediately, Opill can now be preordered from select online retailers, too, Perrigo added in a press release.
Perrigo has implemented a suggested retail price of $19.99 for a one-month supply of the medication and $49.99 for a three-month supply. The drug will also be available on its website, Opill.com, at a price of $49.99 for a three-month supply and $89.99 for a six-month supply.
Taken at a consistent time daily, Opill is 98% effective, according to Perrigo, which points out that almost half of the 6.1 million pregnancies in the U.S. each year are unintended. Meanwhile, many women face difficulties when it comes to acquiring prescription contraception, such as transportation, cost barriers or lack of insurance, the company explained.
Perrigo’s OTC Opill approval last summer came nearly 50 years after its active ingredient, norgestrel, won its original green light in the U.S. Its OTC approval has come at an inflection point for reproductive rights in the U.S. following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade.
As Perrigo embarks on its Opill launch in earnest, the company is downsizing in other areas. Last week, during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings report, Perrigo executives unveiled a cost-cutting and restructuring scheme dubbed “Project Energize.”
As part of the slim-down effort, Perrigo plans to trim roughly 6% of its total staff, or around 550 employees.
Perrigo said the program, which will run for three years, is expected to deliver annual savings between $140 million and $170 million by 2026.