In the late 1990s and early 2000s, leaders across local Planned Parenthood health clinics saw a crisis coming and needed a solution if they were to continue providing birth control to their patients.
Contraceptives were getting more expensive every year, and they saw a future when Planned Parenthood clinics wouldn’t be able to afford to purchase them at a reasonable cost so they could provide them to their patients. At the same time, disruptions in supply were becoming common as pharmaceutical companies prioritized serving patients outside of the public health sector.
"Patients would be on a specific birth control pill, and then there would be an unexpected supply outage. It was a nightmare for patients and providers."
The challenge extended beyond Planned Parenthood with many public community health clinics and student health centers also navigating the same issues. Even when clinics tried to negotiate as a group with pharmaceutical companies for better prices, it wasn’t enough.
In 2008, Ronda Dean and the CEOs of Planned Parenthood affiliates across the U.S. joined together to form Afaxys, a for-profit public benefit corporation that could negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for better pricing and absorb ebbs in the supply chain, not just for contraception but for stocks of the other supplies that clinics rely on like exam gloves and stethoscopes.
“We say today, whether through our Afaxys product portfolio, or an alliance partner supplier, safety net providers can have affordable and consistent access to nearly everything they need to run the clinic, including staff services, furniture, office supplies, every kind of medical supply.”
But Afaxys’ vision went beyond collective purchasing power. Dean knew the underlying market dynamics would continue to get worse and that clinics needed a solution that would secure affordable and continuous access to contraceptives into the future without depending on the pharmaceutical industry.
Five years later, Afaxys launched its pharmaceutical division and began offering its own line of generic contraceptives. These new contraceptives helped guarantee a steady supply at a low and stable price. Since then, Afaxys has launched 12 products including both oral and emergency contraceptives.
Today, millions of people rely on public health clinics for contraception. For many, those clinics are their only consistent access point for preventive reproductive health care. Afaxys serves more than 10,000 health centers across the nation.
The Packard Foundation supported the founding of Afaxys through $5 million in mission investment loans to help the organization grow into a national supplier and to support the launch of their own contraceptives. The Foundation has also since provided $3 million through an additional equity investment to develop a new contraceptive designed to expand access. The product is expected to reach patients by 2028. This investment builds on the Packard Foundation’s efforts to advance safe, affordable contraception options that fit people’s needs.
“Afaxys started as a bold idea by a few people who sought an innovative way to address a looming access gap. Over the years, it has grown into a force for rethinking how public health clinics can be better served by a mission-driven company that prioritizes patient care in sexual and reproductive health.”
Now, Afaxys helps clinics stretch their budgets as they weather disruptions in funding.
“We were created to make sure public health clinics can survive and keep serving patients,” said Bloomgren. “Now we’re focused on reaching even more clinics, more patients, and making a broader impact in public health – at a time when they need us more than ever.”
