Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. In the past, EE was widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological disorders, and certain hormone-sensitive cancers. It is usually taken by mouth but is also used as a patch and vaginal ring.
Norethisterone acetate (NETA), also known as norethindrone acetate and sold under the brand name Primolut-Nor among others, is a progestin medication which is used in birth control pills, menopausal hormone therapy, and for the treatment of gynecological disorders. The medication available in low-dose and high-dose formulations and is used alone or in combination with an estrogen. It is ingested orally.
Norgestimate, sold under the brand names Ortho Tri-Cyclen and Previfem among others, is a progestin medication which is used in birth control pills for women and in menopausal hormone therapy. The medication is available in combination with an estrogen and is not available alone. It is taken by mouth.
Megestrol acetate (MGA), sold under the brand name Megace among others, is a progestin medication which is used mainly as an appetite stimulant to treat wasting syndromes such as cachexia. It is also used to treat breast cancer and endometrial cancer, and has been used in birth control. MGA is generally formulated alone, although it has been combined with estrogens in birth control formulations. It is usually taken by mouth.
Norethisterone, also known as norethindrone and sold under many brand names, is a progestin medication used in birth control pills, menopausal hormone therapy, and for the treatment of gynecological disorders. The medication is available in both low-dose and high-dose formulations and both alone and in combination with an estrogen. It is used by mouth or, as norethisterone enanthate, by injection into muscle.
Combined injectable contraceptives (CICs) are a form of hormonal birth control for women. They consist of monthly injections of combined formulations containing an estrogen and a progestin to prevent pregnancy.
Birth control pills come in a variety of formulations. The main division is between combined oral contraceptive pills, containing both estrogens and synthetic progestogens (progestins), and progestogen only pills. Combined oral contraceptive pills also come in varying types, including varying doses of estrogen, and whether the dose of estrogen or progestogen changes from week to week.
Chlormadinone acetate (CMA), sold under the brand names Belara, Gynorelle, Lutéran, and Prostal among others, is a progestin and antiandrogen medication which is used in birth control pills to prevent pregnancy, as a component of menopausal hormone therapy, in the treatment of gynecological disorders, and in the treatment of androgen-dependent conditions like enlarged prostate and prostate cancer in men and acne and hirsutism in women. It is available both at a low dose in combination with an estrogen in birth control pills and, in a few countries like France and Japan, at low, moderate, and high doses alone for various indications. It is taken by mouth.
Dimethisterone, formerly sold under the brand names Lutagan and Secrosteron among others, is a progestin medication which was used in birth control pills and in the treatment of gynecological disorders but is now no longer available. It was used both alone and in combination with an estrogen. It is taken by mouth.
Norethisterone enanthate (NETE), also known as norethindrone enanthate, is a form of hormonal birth control which is used to prevent pregnancy in women. It is used both as a form of progestogen-only injectable birth control and in combined injectable birth control formulations. It may be used following childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion. The failure rate per year in preventing pregnancy for the progestogen-only formulation is 2 per 100 women. Each dose of this form lasts two months with only up to two doses typically recommended.
Segesterone acetate (SGA), sold under the brand names Nestorone, Elcometrine, and Annovera, is a progestin medication which is used in birth control and in the treatment of endometriosis in the United States, Brazil, and other South American countries. It is available both alone and in combination with an estrogen. It is not effective by mouth and must be given by other routes, most typically as a vaginal ring or implant that is placed into fat.
Hydroxyprogesterone acetate (OHPA), sold under the brand name Prodox, is an orally active progestin related to hydroxyprogesterone caproate (OHPC) which has been used in clinical and veterinary medicine. It has reportedly also been used in birth control pills.
Anagestone acetate, sold under the brand names Anatropin and Neo-Novum, is a progestin medication which was withdrawn from medical use due to carcinogenicity observed in animal studies.
Ethynerone, also known as 17α-(2-chloroethynyl)estra-4,9-dien-17β-ol-3-one, is a steroidal progestin of the 19-nortestosterone group that was first reported in 1961 but was never marketed. Under the developmental code name MK-665, it was studied in combination with mestranol as an oral contraceptive. Development of the drug was discontinued due to concerns surrounding toxicity findings in dogs. It is a chloroethynylated derivative of norethisterone.
Estradiol pivalate, also known as estradiol trimethyl acetate (E2-TMA) and sold under the brand name Estrotate, is an estrogen medication and an estrogen ester; specifically, a pivalic acid ester of estradiol. Literature sources are conflicting as to whether the ester is located at the C3 position or at the C17β position. It was marketed as an oil solution for intramuscular injection in the 1940s and 1950s. A combination of estradiol pivalate (1 mg/mL) and progesterone (10 mg/mL) in oil solution for intramuscular injection was available in 1949. An aqueous suspension of estradiol pivalate was also developed by 1950 although whether it was ever marketed is unclear.
Pentagestrone acetate (PGA), sold under the brand names Gestovis and Gestovister, is a progestin which was described in the literature in 1960 and was introduced by Vister in Italy in 1961. It is the 3-cyclopentyl enol ether of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone acetate. PGA, along with quingestrone, is said to have very similar properties to those of dydrogesterone, a pure progestogen and close analogue of progesterone.
Chloroethynylnorgestrel is a steroidal progestin of the 19-nortestosterone group related to norgestrel that was investigated as an oral contraceptive in the 1970s but was never marketed.
Ethinylestradiol/cyproterone acetate (EE/CPA), also known as co-cyprindiol and sold under the brand names Diane and Diane-35 among others, is a combination of ethinylestradiol (EE), an estrogen, and cyproterone acetate (CPA), a progestin and antiandrogen, which is used as a birth control pill to prevent pregnancy in women. It is also used to treat androgen-dependent conditions in women such as acne, seborrhea, excessive facial/body hair growth, scalp hair loss, and high androgen levels associated with ovaries with cysts. The medication is taken by mouth once daily for 21 days, followed by a 7-day free interval.
