Pharmacies Nationwide Stock Plan B; FDA-approved Extended Shelf Life Helps Facilitate Advanced Prescribing.

Health & Medical Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2002

All wholesale drug companies, including regional wholesalers, are now stocking Plan B(R) (levonorgestrel) emergency contraception, making it easier for drug store chains and independents to get and keep the product in stock.

Recent FDA approval of a 36-month expiration dating period, will allow clinics and pharmacies to keep a larger stock of Plan B and also facilitates advanced prescribing -- a practice recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for all women at risk of an unintended pregnancy.

"One of the biggest challenges with emergency contraception is the short timeframe in which women need to start the treatment. Getting a prescription can already be a big hurdle. If women also have to call four or five pharmacies to get the prescription filled, they can easily run out of time," says Dr. Sharon L. Camp, President and Chief Executive Officer, Women's Capital Corporation. "Getting widespread distribution in pharmacies has been critical."

Pharmacy chains now stocking Plan B in all or most stores include: Walgreens, Long's, Duane Reade, Giant, SavOn, Medicine Shoppe, QFC, Raley's, Stop & Shop, Schnucks, Ralph's, Kroger's, Fred Meyers, Bartell's, Neighborcare, and Happy Harry's. Chains such as CVS, Rite Aid, Eckerd, Costco, Shoppers Food Warehouse, Target, Safeway and K-mart carry the product in some stores, and availability should expand as demand increases. Any store in these chains can order Plan B easily.

Plan B was recently named drug Package of the Year by the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council (HCPC). The award was developed to recognize pharmaceutical manufacturers for developing packages that prompt patients to take their medications properly. At the award presentation, scheduled for May 14-15, 2002 at the Hyatt Regency in Philadelphia, PA, award winners will designate a school of packaging to receive a $750 Scholarship Fund from HCPC

Women's Capital Corporation (WCC) is a privately held company, organized in 1997, to bring Plan B to the U.S. and Canadian markets. WCC's efforts to develop and market Plan B represent a novel public/private sector partnership, involving not-for-profit organizations, such as the Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, which pioneered pharmacists' prescriptive authority for emergency contraception in Washington State and Family Health International, the large research organization conducting the studies needed to move Plan B from prescription to non-prescription status.

Financing for Plan B has come, in large part, from U.S. foundations, including: the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the Compton Foundation and the Open Society Institute. Robert Wallace, Chairman of the Wallace Global Fund, was the project's "angel investor". Six Planned Parenthood affiliates, including Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, also made equity investments in Plan B.

For more information please visit the Plan B Web site at http://www.go2planB.com.