The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new birth control pill, Beyaz, an estrogen/progestin combined oral contraceptive that also contains a folate, a vitamin that can help prevent birth defects and is recommended for use by all women of childbearing age.
The folate, levomefolate calcium is a metabolite of folic acid, a water-soluble B-vitamin that helps produce and maintain new cells in the body. A known association of low folate levels and neural tube defects (e.g., spina bifida) has resulted in recommendations that women of childbearing age supplement their diet with folate.
Beyaz, manufactured by Bayer, is based on the approved product YAZ, which contains the same doses of estrogen and progestin, and is approved for:
• Prevention of pregnancy
• Treatment of symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in women who choose to use an oral contraceptive for contraception and
• Treatment of moderate acne vulgaris in women at least 14 years of age, only if the patient desires an oral contraceptive for birth control.
In addition to the approved YAZ indications, Beyaz also is approved for the secondary indication in women who choose to use an oral contraceptive as their method of contraception, to raise folate levels for the purpose of reducing the risk of a neural tube defect in a pregnancy conceived while taking the product or shortly after discontinuing the product.
The most common side effects reported by users of combined oral contraceptives are irregular uterine bleeding, nausea, breast tenderness, and headaches. Other serious side effects include vascular events (blood clots) and liver disease. Women over age 35 who smoke should not use this product as cigarette smoking increases further the risk of serious cardiovascular events.
The common adverse events for Beyaz are expected to be the same as those for YAZ. There were no findings from the clinical trials with Beyaz to suggest a change in the overall safety profile compared to that of YAZ.
