Healthcare stock Perrigo (NYSE:PRGO) made a serious advance in the field of birth control today with its latest release. The stock made a big splash earlier in the day, but held on to some of those gains going into Thursday afternoon’s trading.
The Food and Drug Administration earlier today approved the Opill from Perrigo for all ages as an over-the-counter product. Containing only progestin, and intended for daily oral use, Opill represents the first-ever birth control pill available on an over-the-counter basis. Formerly, such medications were available as prescription only items. Perrigo expects Opill to be available in stores starting in 2024’s first quarter.
Reports from Fierce Pharma note that the meeting that cleared Opill for over-the-counter use ended in a unanimous approval of the entire body. Further, going into the meeting, several research and academic bodies combined to put their approval behind Opill’s expansion, including the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. With such backing, it was hard to see how Opill wouldn’t get the green light. Now, with it in place, Perrigo has access to an impressive new market. After all, nearly half—45%, Fierce noted—of the roughly six million pregnancies in the U.S are unintended.
Joining the academics and researchers in support, meanwhile, were hedge funds. Hedge funds currently have a “Very Positive” outlook on Perrigo stock. In fact, hedge funds added 287,300 shares of Perrigo stock in the last quarter, the second time in a row hedge funds added to the total.
