Female Health Announces Proprietary Second Generation Product:
The Female Condom Thursday March 27, 1:00 pm ET Female Condom Gets Go Ahead in India
CHICAGO, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Female Health Company (OTC Bulletin Board: FHCO - News) announced today at its Annual Meeting of Shareholders, that it has filed a patent on a second generation version of its FC Female Condom. The Company initiated development to find a product that presented the same physical and very positive clinical and acceptability performance but that could be produced at a significantly reduced cost compared to its current product. The Company believes that it has been successful. Studies required to establish comparability to FC are now on-going.
The Female Condom is mainly distributed in developing countries where HIV/AIDS is rampant and where costs associated with prevention programming is critical to governments' ability to implement education outreach activities. The Company believes that reducing the cost of The Female Condom, will increase accessibility of the product for women who most need it and accelerate its market penetration. Studies have shown FC to be an effective barrier to the viruses and bacteria that cause sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Studies also show that when FC is available along with male condoms, the number of protected sex acts increases.
The Company also told its shareholders that it along with its partner in India, Hindustan Latex Ltd. (HLL), has received certificates of product registration and importation for The Female Condom from the Central Drugs and Standards Control Ministry of Health of the Government of India. The Female Health Company announced its partnership with HLL late in 2001. During 2002 application for approval of the product and the manufacturing process was submitted to the Ministry of Health. As part of the process, HLL and The Company initiated acceptability studies which were highly successful. HLL recently announced that it will expand the acceptability studies in April and plans to launch the product in August. India, with a population of approximately 1 billion is actively pursuing HIV/AIDS prevention programs. HLL and The Company believe that The Female Condom will be an important part of these programs. FC is available in 100 countries.
HLL, a Government of India Undertaking, was established in 1966 to make superior quality male condoms widely available in India. HLL has subsequently launched numerous brands of condoms and also manufactures oral contraceptive pills, intra-uterine devices, latex gloves, blood bags, shunts and sutures. With headquarters in Trivandrum in Kerala State in South India, HLL has several factories throughout the country. In addition, HLL has an extensive sales and marketing force throughout all of India with over 1000 wholesalers and over 350,000 retail outlets for its products. HLL is the largest supplier of male condoms in India, manufacturing over half of India's annual male condom supply of one billion.
The Female Health Company, based in Chicago, owns certain worldwide rights to The Female Condom including patents which have been issued in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, The People's Republic of China, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela and Australia. The Female Condom is the only available product controlled by a woman that protects against sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancy.
"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Action of 1995: The statements in this release which are not historical fact are forward-looking statements based upon the Company's current plan and strategies, and reflect the Company's current assessment of the risks and uncertainties related to its business, including such things as product demand and market acceptance; the economic and business environment and the impact of government pressures; currency risks; capacity; efficiency and supply constraints; and other risks detailed in the Company's press releases, shareholder communication and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Actual events affecting the Company and the impact of such events on the Company's operations may vary from those currently anticipated.
For more information about the Female Health Company, dial toll-free via fax, 1-800-PRO-INFO and enter company code "FHCO". Also, visit the Company's web site at www.femalehealth.com and www.femalecondom.org . If you would like to be added to an e-mail alert list, please send an e-mail to FHCInvestor@aol.com .
Source: The Female Health Company