The Female Health Company Makes Significant Commitment to Increasing Access to Lifesaving Contraceptives in the Developing World

CHICAGO, July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Female Health Company (NASDAQ-CM: FHCO) – today announced its commitment to help advance the groundbreaking London Summit on Family Planning goal of getting contraceptive products, information, services and supplies to an additional 120 million women and girls in the world's poorest countries by 2020.  The Summit estimated the value of FHC's commitment to be $23 million (over an eight year period).  The Female Health Company, the only condom manufacturer to attend, was one of four private companies that both attended the Summit and made a commitment to its goals. 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120712/MM39764LOGO)  

Led by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the London Summit on Family Planning, held last week in conjunction with World Population Day (July 11, 2012), brought together more than 150 leaders from the public and private sector to provide women and girls with the tools and resources they need to decide for themselves, whether, when and how many children they have. The Summit also addressed the linkages between family planning and sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS prevention. HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age.  The female condom is the only female-initiated product that provides dual protection against both unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.  At the end of the Summit, it was announced that a total of approximately $4.6 billion had been pledged to support the eight year program's goal.

In response to the Summit's global call for support and resources and in an effort to increase access of its female condom to women to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV, The Female Health Company, producers of the FC2 Female Condom®, announced a three-pronged commitment to:

1. Invest up to $14 million over the next six years in reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention education and training, in collaboration with global agencies;
2. Aggregate annual public sector purchases from all large buyers to set prospectively volume-based discounts on unit pricing; and
3. Award major purchasers with free product, equal to 5 percent of their total annual units purchased. 

"The Female Health Company is honored to be a part of this cutting-edge initiative to help prevent unplanned pregnancies and improve the health of women in the world's poorest countries" noted O.B.Parrish, the Company's Chairman and CEO.  "We are firmly committed to supporting women's reproductive health including increased access to contraceptives and HIV/AIDS prevention.  FHC realizes that for many girls and women this effort could quite literally mean the difference between life and death."

 About The Female Health Company
The Female Health Company, based in Chicago, Illinois, manufactures and markets the FC2 Female Condom® (FC2), which provides women with dual protection against both unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.  The FC2 Female Condom® is available in the U.S. and in about 130 other countries globally.  The Company owns certain worldwide rights to the FC2 Female Condom®, including patents that have been issued in the U.S., the European Union, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Japan, The People's Republic of China, Spain, Mexico, Greece, Turkey and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), which includes Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  FC2 patent applications are pending in various countries.  The FC2 Female Condom® is the only available FDA-approved product controlled by a woman that offers dual protection against sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy.  The World Health Organization (WHO) has cleared FC2 for purchase by U.N. agencies. 

"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

The statements in this release which are not historical fact are "forward‑looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future unit pricing and investment in HIV/AIDS prevention education and training.  These statements are based upon the Company's current plans and strategies, and reflect the Company's current assessment of the risks and uncertainties related to its business, and are made as of the date of this release.  The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward‑looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information or future events, developments or circumstances.  Such forward‑looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties.  The Company's actual results and future developments could differ materially from the results or developments expressed in, or implied by, these forward‑looking statements.  Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward‑looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following:  product demand and market acceptance; competition in the Company's markets and the risk of new competitors and new competitive product introductions; the Company's reliance on its international partners in the consumer sector and on the level of spending on the female condom by country governments, global donors and other public health organizations in the global public sector; the economic and business environment and the impact of government pressures; risks involved in doing business on an international level, including currency risks, regulatory requirements, political risks, export restrictions and other trade barriers; the Company's production capacity, efficiency and supply constraints; changes in costs of raw materials, labor costs and other manufacturing costs; and other risks detailed in the Company's press releases, shareholder communications and Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company's Form 10‑K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011.  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 visit the Company's website at http://www.femalehealth.com and http://www.femalecondom.org.If you would like to be added to the Company's e-mail alert list, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

SOURCE The Female Health Company