FDA approves oral contraceptive Natazia

SILVER SPRING, Md. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new oral contraceptive made by Bayer, the agency announced Thursday.

The FDA approved Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals’ Natazia (estradiol valerate and dienogest), which combines an estrogen and a progestin into what the agency called the first four-phasic contraceptive marketed in the United States. Four-phasic means that the doses of the two hormones vary at four times throughout each treatment cycle.

“Nearly 12 million women in the United States and more than 100 million women worldwide currently use oral contraceptives,” FDA Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products director Scott Monroe said. “The approval of Natazia provides another option for women who choose to use an oral contraceptive as their method of contraception.”