The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Duramed Pharmaceuticals’ LoSEASONIQUE(R) extended-cycle oral contraceptive. The product is the first lower-dose, extended-cycle oral contraceptive approved for the prevention of pregnancy. The LoSEASONIQUE(R) regimen requires women to take combination tablets for 84 consecutive days, followed by 0.01 mg ethinyl estradiol tablets for a week. The treatment reduces the periods of withdrawal bleeding to four from 13 per year.

A U.S. district court has ruled in favor of Barr Pharmaceuticals in a lawsuit challenging the patent listed by Bayer Schering Pharma in connection with Yasmin(R). The judge found the patent for the oral contraceptive as invalid. Yasmin provides an oral contraceptive regimen consisting of 21 active tablets (each containing 3 mg of drospirenone and 0.03 mg of ethinyl estradiol) and 7 inert tablets.