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201710 Male and Female Contraceptive Development (Johnston, CRB)

Program seeks Council approval for an initiative titled “Male and Female Contraceptive Development”.

Prevention of unplanned pregnancies represents a major challenge in the U.S. and globally, and new options for both men and women are needed. The NICHD remains the only funder of early stage contraceptive research throughout the world and continued funding in this area is of paramount importance for the field.

The objective of the FOA is to stimulate research within the private sector that advances the development of novel compounds or devices that provide safe and reversible contraceptive methods for men and women. The private sector brings a product oriented focus that is essential for driving translational research.  This FOA would provide the economic incentives to increase small business involvement in this space. Increasing private sector participation is expected to change the types of approaches brought to bear on contraceptive development and encourage academic/business relationships.

This proposed concept aligns with NICHD’s 2012 Scientific Vision document which defined the need to “Identify novel molecular targets to develop new contraceptive methods” as well as recommendations in the 2015 “Assessment of the Contraceptive Research Activities of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.”

Program Contact

Daniel Johnston
Contraception Research Branch

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