New morning-after pill 'effective five days after sex'

02 Oct 09

The new pill, launched in the UK and several European countries last week, is available on prescription only and maintains a higher level of efficacy for longer than the existing ‘morning after pill’.

Ulipristal acetate, marketed under the brand name ellaOne, is the first representative of a new therapeutic class, selective progesterone receptor modulators, and the first new emergency hormonal contraceptive pill to have been launched in the UK since levonorgestrel in 1999.

The manufacturers of ellaOne say their clinical trials performed on more than 4,000 women show a single dose of ellaOne significantly reduces the number of pregnancies versus the number of expected pregnancies in the absence of emergency contraception.

Experts say the clinical advantage of the new drug is that it maintains efficacy for five days after unprotected intercourse, and still prevents more than 98% of pregnancies if taken on day five.

By comparison levonorgestrel is 95% effective if taken within 24 hours of unprotected sex, but this falls to 85% after 48 hours and 58% after 72 hours.

Dr Louise Melvin, director of the clinical effectiveness unit of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology’s faculty of sexual and reproductive healthcare, welcomed the wider choice of emergency contraception.

She said: ‘Emergency contraception is an important means of preventing unwanted pregnancy following unprotected sex or failed contraception.’