July 11 (Reuters) - Perrigo Company (PRGO.N) said on Monday its unit HRA Pharma has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a daily birth control pill for over-the-counter (OTC) sale, the first such request for this type of contraception.
The contraceptive is currently a prescription drug sold under brand Opill.
1/3 Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020.
Meanwhile, Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the submission was a positive.
"We know that birth control is not a solution to abortion bans, as people need abortion care for many reasons," Hoskins said, but added that the pill could still help more people to "control their own reproductive futures".
Perrigo said scientific evidence has shown progestin-only pills, such as Opill, are effective at preventing pregnancy and safe for most women to use.
Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shinjini Ganguli. »