The First Generation of Hormonal Contraceptives

Abstract

Ovulation-inhibiting hormonal contraceptives are estrogenic or progestational steroids, or a combination of both. Up to 1960, when the first hormonal oral contraceptive was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, development of new chemical contraceptives was slow and lacked originality. However, the introduction of the first oral contraceptive, also dubbed “the pill,” stimulated competition between chemists and pharmacologists in the international pharmaceutical research centers to discover hormonal compounds of increased selectivity and biological efficacy for new oral contraceptives.