Saundra Pelletier: Bringing a New Birth Control to Market

Saundra Pelletier has spent her career focused on women’s health, from Big Pharma to nonprofit work around the globe. Then she got the opportunity to lead a startup bringing a new kind of birth control to market: a non-hormonal gel designed to give women more control. In this episode, she shares what it’s like to fight for FDA approval, push for insurance coverage, and rethink what birth control can look like when women are the ones making the decisions.

Note: This episode includes discussion of reproductive health and birth control in an educational context. It is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for personal recommendations.

“We made an appeal to the FDA that this drug was so safe. The ingredients were food grade. That all of these women were suffering... Why won’t they approve this safe drug?” 

Hear Saundra talk about:

• The road to launching Phexxi, a non-hormonal birth control gel
• Why young women embraced the product in ways she didn’t expect
• Her fight with insurers and the FDA for access and approval
• The cancer diagnosis that made her mission even more personal
• How she found her voice as a leader in a male-dominated industry

Mentioned in this episode:

• Phexxi, the first FDA-approved non-hormonal birth control gel
• Solosec, a one-dose treatment for BV and trichomoniasis
• WomanCare Global, a nonprofit focused on reproductive health access in low-resource settings
• Journal of Sexual Medicine study, reporting increased sexual satisfaction with Phexxi

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