Chinese company to make PATH's female condom

After a worldwide search, Coalition member PATH has found a commercial partner to manufacture the "PATH Woman´s Condom"-a new female condom developed by PATH in collaboration with couples in several developing countries. PATH president and CEO Dr. Christopher J. Elias recently signed a licensing and collaboration agreement with the president of Shanghai Dahua Medical Apparatus Company (known as Dahua), Mr. Chen Hua.

Female condoms have been available since 1993. PATH began work in 1996 on a woman´s condom tailored to the needs of the women in the developing world, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (through the CONRAD programme) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among other donors. Input from women and their partners guided PATH´s designers at all stages of development. PATH  created and tested more than 50 prototypes, eventually moving to field-testing with the cooperation of couples in Mexico, South Africa, and Thailand.

Dahua specializes in high-quality, low-cost, disposable medical devices made from plastic. In addition, Dahua manufactured skin implants (similar to Norplant) for contraception some years ago. As part of the agreement, PATH and Dahua will work together to keep manufacturing costs low and set a price that is affordable to public health programmes in China. For more information, see http://www.path.org/news/an080822-dahua.php or contact Joanie Robertson, Manager at PATH's Technology Solutions Global Program.

Categories: Featured, Market Development Approaches Working Group, Systems Strengthening Working Group