Pharma executives call regulators, lawmakers to action four months after Roe – Endpoints News

Four months after the US Supreme Court handed down its decision Dobbs decision, which overturns the right to abortion, dozens of women across the pharmaceutical industry are not done fighting.

A group called the Biotech Sisterhood released a letter on Monday calling for action to support reproductive rights. The letter – signed by more than 200 biotech, pharma and investment leaders – urges companies to support employees and regulators to make reproductive care more accessible.

“By deciding to eliminate a constitutional right to abortion, a powerful few deprived a majority — women — of the right to make fundamental decisions that affect their health care and their lives,” the letter said. “It marks the beginning of a broader loss of autonomy and privacy for all Americans.”

The Biotech Sisterhood came back together in March at a retreat in Arizona, according to ReCode Therapeutic CEO Shehnaaz Suliman, an early member and co-author of the letter. What started as a “loosely formed informal gathering of like-minded women” has since doubled in size, including more than 150 life science CEOs, she said.

The group issued a letter condemning the SCOTUS decision back in July. Another letter, dated Tuesday, makes four requests: That companies provide financial support and time off for those who need to travel for reproductive care; that the FDA and sponsors remove barriers around contraceptives and medical abortion; that drug manufacturers make reproductive care products “as widely available as possible”; and that companies give time off to vote.

The advocates also asked regulators to remove the contraceptive for over-the-counter use and remove Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) restrictions on mifepristone, which is used to terminate pregnancy and as an off-label treatment for miscarriage.

“It’s just another way for us to come together, with unified voices, and call on the powers that be to continue their efforts in this regard,” Suliman said.

The news comes as the FDA has postponed an advisory committee meeting to consider making Perrigo’s oral contraceptive Opill the first such drug available for over-the-counter use. The meeting was previously scheduled to take place on Nov. 18, but the FDA has delayed the matter “to review additional information requested related to the Opill® Rx-to-OTC switch,” Perrigo said in a statement Wednesday.

The FDA has not yet given a new date for the adcomm.

“The company will continue to work with the FDA to ensure a timely and thorough review,” Perrigo said.

Meanwhile, a number of pharma companies – including Suliman’s ReCode – continue to offer support to those affected by new restrictions.

“We remain committed to continuing to offer reproductive health coverage, including contraception and abortion, including travel and lodging benefits where necessary, to the fullest extent permitted by law in the United States and Puerto Rico,” a GSK spokesperson said News about endpoints on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Roche said the company’s benefits package “ensures access to critical health care regardless of where they live in the United States. Our medical plans already cover employees’ travel and accommodation expenses if they need to receive medical treatment that is not available locally.”

Novartis said it “continues to evaluate how this decision may affect the care of our employees,” and assured that family planning services are covered by the medical program, “regardless of where the services are provided in the United States.”

“We will make accommodations for partners if they cannot access any services in their immediate home state or region,” a spokesperson said.

Eli Lilly said in a statement back in August when the Indiana law was changed that it is concerned restrictions “will hinder Lilly’s — and Indiana’s — ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world.”

“Although we have expanded our employee health plan coverage to include travel for reproductive services not available locally, it may not be enough for some current and prospective employees,” the company said at the time.

Earlier this month, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and 48 other organizations asked that regulators encourage Danco Laboratories to submit an application for its abortion pill Mifeprex to treat miscarriage. Mifeprex, or mifepristone, is only approved to terminate pregnancy in combination with misoprostol, but ACOG wrote in the petition that its use in combination with misoprostol to treat miscarriage is safe and “may significantly improve treatment efficacy.”

The Biotech Sisterhood’s letter notes that in many states, “women no longer have the legal right to openly consult their doctors, make decisions based on facts, and receive the best possible care, without their actions being subject to criminalization.”