Why has so little changed? This startup is rethinking contraception
Contraception has been part of women’s everyday life for decades and has played a central role in the fight for gender equality - giving women greater control over their own bodies.
Yet despite its importance, innovation in the space has remained surprisingly limited.
And the last real breakthrough in contraception, you might ask? That was more than 60 years ago.
For many women, hormonal contraception is still the default,
despite many women experiencing side effects that make them look elsewhere. At the same time, the non-hormonal options available today rarely offer a real alternative, forcing a trade-off between effectiveness, convenience and user experience.
This is the gap Cirqle Biomedical is working to change.
Why we selected Cirqle Biomedical as Startup of the Month
The need for better contraception is not new, but progress in the space has simply not kept up. That is exactly why we are highlighting Cirqle Biomedical - a company rethinking how contraception works and responding to the growing demand for non-hormonal options.
A personal starting point
The founder and CEO, Frederik Petursson Madsen, entered women’s health through a personal starting point - something that, in many ways, characterises the space itself.
For him, it started with a conversation with his partner at the time who told him she no longer wanted to use the pill because of the side effects she was experiencing.
“I didn’t know much about contraception at that point,” he explains. “But when she started describing the side effects - especially the mental ones - I realized this was serious.”
What initially felt like an individual experience quickly revealed itself as something broader. As he began speaking to more women, the same concerns kept appearing - not as isolated cases, but as a pattern.
That curiosity turned into research, and eventually into a question that would shape the company: Why has so little changed?
A shift without a solution
For decades, contraception has largely followed the same paths. Hormonal methods have continued to dominate, while alternatives have struggled to offer the same level of effectiveness without introducing other drawbacks.
For many women, this creates a difficult trade-off between managing side effects and compromising on reliability or convenience.
According to Cirqle’s own research, around half of women would prefer a non-hormonal alternative. And this is already visible in behaviour.
In Denmark, for example, the number of women aged 18–24 using the pill has dropped by nearly 50 percent over the past decade, according to data from the Danish Health Data Authority.
But stepping away from hormonal contraception does not necessarily mean stepping into something better. Many of the available alternatives still come with significant trade-offs - leaving women without a clear, satisfying option.
The challenge is therefore not a lack of demand, but a lack of viable solutions.
Rethinking how contraception works
Cirqle Biomedical approaches this challenge from a different angle by focusing on the body’s own biology rather than introducing external mechanisms.
“What if we just leverage nature’s own barrier?”
As Frederik Petursson Madsen explains, instead of relying on hormones or physical devices, the company is developing a method that works by reinforcing the natural barrier properties of cervical mucus, preventing sperm from reaching the egg.
This represents a fundamentally new approach to contraception - not by introducing something new to the body, but by strengthening what is already there
Building in an under-researched field
Developing a new contraceptive method is inherently complex. In women’s health, complexity is often amplified by a lack of existing research and data - meaning the development process looks fundamentally different.
“We basically had to do that groundwork ourselves.”
So instead of building on an established knowledge base, part of the work has been to generate the understanding needed to move forward - adding both time and complexity to the journey.
From early development to clinical trials
Since its founding, Cirqle Biomedical has moved from early-stage concept development to extensive pre-clinical testing, demonstrating strong efficacy compared to existing non-hormonal alternatives, alongside a promising safety profile.
And naturally, when reading this, the question that comes to mind is: when can you actually get your hands on it?
Not yet, unfortunately.
The next step is clinical trials - a process that takes time, but is essential to ensure both safety and effectiveness before reaching the market. The process is expected to take several years, with clinical trials planned to begin in the near term.
Expanding the range of choices
Cirqle Biomedical is part of a broader shift within women’s health, where the focus is increasingly on creating solutions that reflect real user needs rather than adapting users to existing products.
The ambition is not only to introduce a new contraceptive method, but to expand the range of meaningful choices available to women.
“Our goal is to provide a new alternative - non-hormonal, highly effective, with minimal side effects.”
Because for many women, contraception is not just about preventing pregnancy. It is about not having to live with side effects - and finally having an option that does not come at the expense of their wellbeing.
