The Lubrizol Corp.’s contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lubrizol Life Science Health (LLS Health), has been awarded a grant to support its research on injectable contraceptive formulations designed to bring accessible contraceptive products to women in developing nations.
 
Around 220 million women in developing countries lack access to contraceptives and voluntary family planning information and services.¹ It is hoped that through funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation a contraceptive injection can be developed and manufactured in a format to allow for user self-administration to improve access.
 
“LLS Health has built in-depth expertise of the physicochemical characteristics involved in the development of complex formulations, including long-acting injectable products, so we are well-positioned to assist the foundation,” said Dr. Robert Lee, president, CDMO Division, LLS Health. “This research will set the foundation for more accessible contraceptive products in developing nations and we look forward to continued partnership with the foundation to achieve our joint missions.”
 
This project is the second phase of an ongoing program with the foundation. LLS Health will manufacture batches of the injection formulation, placing them on a five-year stability program to assess the shelf life. A longer shelf life can positively affect the affordability of a drug product. The program’s first phase sought to identify the critical quality attributes for acceptable resuspendability of high concentration suspension formulations and develop a process to manufacture the drug product.
 
The research program links to the Lubrizol Corporation’s ‘Live Better’ mission, which pledges to improve at least 2 billion lives by 2028 through utilizing its formulating expertise, testing capabilities, market insights and global scale.
 
“Today, more than ever, people around the world realize that health and wellness are essential to our quality of life,” said Barbara Morgan, general manager for the LLS Health CDMO Division. “Our team is at the forefront of drug product innovation. By utilizing LLS Health’s formulating expertise, we are helping develop products that enable billions of people to live better, bringing Lubrizol’s mission to life.”
 

1. https://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(14)00325-4/pdf