Good morning! Kamala Harris breaks her silence after the election, Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum warns Trump against tariffs, and Fortune‘s Nina Ajemian reports on the state of male birth control—amid a tumultuous political environment for women’s health and drug approvals. Have a restful weekend.
– In control. For years, advocates of reproductive freedom have been waiting for the arrival of male birth control (besides condoms and vasectomies). New options are finally getting closer to market—just as the second Trump administration enters the White House.
This is an issue on which the Trump White House could be a bit of a wildcard. On the one hand, the conservative roadmap Project 2025 threatens access to birth control for women, from allowing employers to opt out of covering it to limiting the contraceptive methods that can be covered under the Affordable Care Act. But male birth control has the luxury of being “removed from the whole debate” about abortion, says Darlene Walley, CEO of Next Life Sciences’ Plan A, a male contraceptive in development. Most women know that treatments for men and women are often viewed differently, like how insurers have covered birth control compared to Viagra. Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., meanwhile, is poised to overhaul the FDA and its drug approvals process just as new treatments seek the FDA’s signoff.
“We’re in a time of transition, and the time is right for male contraception to really move out and get onto the market,” says Heather Vahdat, executive director of advocacy group the Male Contraceptive Initiative. There have been efforts made to get products on the market before, but no male contraceptive has cleared phase three trials. A lack of funding from pharmaceutical companies and severe side effects have gotten in the way. (Men have been more reluctant to tolerate side effects and treatments have been harder to get approved because pregnancy does not pose a physical risk to men.)
One of those birth control methods is Next Life Sciences’ Plan A, a non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive for men that lasts 10 years and is inserted in an outpatient procedure. Expected to enter clinical trials in the first quarter of 2025, Plan A uses a hydrogel that acts like a filter to stop sperm from moving through the vas deferens. The company plans for its FDA submission, approval, and commercialization to go through in 2027. “We’re hoping that by giving the other half of the population the ability to participate in birth control that we can have a profound effect on pregnancies,” Walley says. Another is Contraline, which is also developing a hydrogel—this one’s called ADAM—and is expected to start human clinical trials in the beginning of 2027.
It may not be fair that male birth control gets to be considered a topic separate from abortion rights while women’s birth control is wielded as a political flashpoint, but the introduction of male contraceptives can still ultimately benefit women. Even founders of women’s health companies see it that way. “My passion project after this business would be making male birth control mainstream because I just think it’s so unfair that it all falls on women,” says Jamie Norwood, cofounder of the women’s health brand Winx.
“Male contraception is a female reproductive health product,” argues Vahdat. “The goal will be to stop referencing it as male versus female contraception. Any contraception is ultimately trying to prevent an unintended pregnancy.”
Nina Ajemian
nina.ajemian@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
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- Breaking her silence. Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz thanked volunteers and donors for their support of the campaign in a 13-minute video. “What we did in 107 days was unprecedented,” Harris said. Vanity Fair
- Trade war. President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum warned President-elect Donald Trump that should he go through with his proposal for import tariffs, Mexico will impose tariffs on U.S. imports in response. She also rebuked Trump’s assertions that her country is bringing weapons and drugs into the U.S. MSNBC
- Cyber protection. Cleo Capital, an early-stage venture fund founded by Sarah Kunst, is launching a cybersecurity accelerator to address “out of control” cyber threats—in 2023, Americans lost over $12.5 billion to cybercrime. The accelerator will offer early-stage companies a $250,000 investment for up to 7% equity. TechCrunch
- Ready for it? Taylor Swift’s self-published book on her Eras Tour is available exclusively at Target today, a move that could provide some relief for the retailer after a recent decline in earnings and competition from Walmart and Amazon. Expectations for sales are high, as the book's initial print run is 2 million copies. Wall Street Journal
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Samsung named Kim Kyung-Ah president and CEO of Samsung Bioepis, a biopharmaceutical company; she is the first woman outside of the company’s founding family to lead a Samsung company in 86 years. Previously, Kim was EVP of Samsung Bioepis.
Heritage Grocers Group, a specialty grocer for the Hispanic community, named Suzy Monford chairman and CEO. Currently, she is CEO of Food Sport International.
LLYC, a marketing and corporate affairs consultancy, named Luisa García global CEO of corporate affairs. García is a partner and former COO of the firm.
Latecoere, an aerospace industry supplier, named Sam Marnick president of Latecoere Americas. Marnick, who sits on Latecoere’s board of directors, was most recently COO and president of the commercial business at Spirit AeroSystems.
WesBanco, a bank holding company, appointed Jan Pattishall-Krupinski as senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer. Most recently, she was EVP and director of operations.
Ziff Davis, a digital media and internet company, appointed Lori Tansley as chief accounting officer. Most recently, Tansley was SVP and chief accounting officer at Ankura Consulting Group.
Burlington Stores, an off-price retailer, appointed Shira Goodman to its board of directors. She was previously CEO of Staples.
DIRTT Environmental Solutions, an industrialized construction company, added Holly Hess Groos to its board of directors. Previously, she was Verizon’s SVP of business excellence and zero based budgeting.
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“Women’s sports aren’t charity or a discount—they’re not $10 tickets. These are the best players in the world delivering incredible football… If they’re still doubters, they just don’t get it.”
—Julie Uhrman, cofounder and president of Angel City FC, on the NWSL’s historic 2024 season
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