H E A L T H I N S I G H T S
However , Natural Cycles have recently eliminated one of these factors by partnering with smart ring manufacturer Oura Health to use their Oura Ring wearable . The Oura Ring collects nightly temperature data from the user and integrates it into the Natural Cycles app . Natural Cycles is both FDA-approved and CE marked as a medical device and clinical studies have shown it to be 93 % effective as a contraception method when used normally . This is similar to the pill , but slightly less effective than an intrauterine device .
Oura Health have a large patent portfolio with claims towards devices , systems and methods for measuring and calibrating body temperature , as well as methods of predicting fertility from wearable-based physiological data .
Roberta Sher , Assistant , Reddie & Grose
The male pill
The market value of a new male contraceptive agent could be up to US $ 200 billion , according to a study published in Current Obstetrics and Gynaecology Reports . Clearly , the male contraceptive space is ripe for innovation .
Involving men in the use of birth control would allow contraceptive responsibility to be shared , reducing the pressure on women to bear the financial and healthrelated burdens that typically come with contraception . This is particularly the case where health reasons prevent certain women from using hormonal contraceptives .
Manufacturer YourChoice Therapeutics began its Phase I clinical trial of new nonhormonal male birth control pill YCT-529 in December 2023 . This pill works by inhibiting a protein called retinoic acid receptor alpha ( RAR-a ), which blocks the effects of vitamin A that plays important roles in the growth and differentiation of sperm cells .
When tested in preclinical trials in male mice , the pill resulted in sterilisation that was 99 % effective . Promisingly , the effects were reversible ; after stopping the pill , the mice were fertile again after four to six weeks .
Summary
The social discourse around female health is changing . This is owed in part to the
normalisation of conversations surrounding female health and wellbeing , as well as responses to abortion laws in the wake of the Roe vs Wade case . Although notable efforts are being made in the contraceptive space , many novel methods are still at an early stage of research and the upshot remains that contraceptives available today are not suitable for all users .
The current momentum must be maintained in order for all women with unmet needs to have access to the full range of contraceptive choices .
Start-ups can protect their core inventions through different aspects . Patent applications can be drafted towards particular devices , components , methods of production or methods of use . Having a patent portfolio covering different aspects of the central idea can add significant value and make it more difficult for competitors to operate in the same technological area . If a start-up only has one patent , a competitor could successfully challenge its validity and clear the way for their own operations or simply design around it .
Navigating the field of intellectual property can be challenging , therefore we recommend getting in touch with a specialist law firm with a wide breadth of cross-disciplinary experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to medical devices and digital healthcare related inventions . �
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