summing up what did and did not work in the seven years since it distributed devices for $50 apiece. The organization recounts meeting its goals: It expanded access to the device and introduced competition to the market and thus lowered prices.
“We went through the same process that a pharmaceutical company would go through to bring a new product,” said Tina Raine-Bennett, who became CEO after Hale. After the product, Liletta, launched in 2015, Medicines360 continued to broaden its approved usage. Today, it is approved for all women of reproductive age, not just those who had born children, and last fall the FDA extended its use for pregnancy prevention for up to eight years.
What’s more, from the time the device leaves the manufacturer to the time it enters a clinic, it passes through many supply-chain intermediaries. Wholesalers, for example, charge a fee typically based on the list price of a drug and prefer higher-cost drugs because they make more money. However, for clinics that have a high proportion of uninsured patients, Liletta’s low cost is still attractive.
Another barrier the nonprofit faces is its limited ability to raise funds. It doesn’t have funds that shareholders would bring, and traditional venture capitalists, focused on profits, are uninterested.