Chemical Engineer Who Developed Birth Control Pill Dies At 102

July 10, 2019
George Rosenkranz was part of the team that developed the combined oral contraceptive.

George Rosenkranz, instrumental in the development of hormone-based contraceptives, died on June 23, according to The Scientist.  The former chemical engineer, 102, was reportedly part of a team from the Mexico City-based drug company Syntex that first synthesized norethindrone in the 1950s, a synthetic version of the human hormone progesterone. 

According to The Scientist, norethindrone was initially developed to help women avoid miscarriages but became a key ingredient in the combined oral contraceptive pill.  The Food and Drug Administration approved the pill in 1959 and it was reportedly prescribed more than 1 million times in its first year on the market.

Read the entire article here.

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