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Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967) was an American biologist and medical researcher who co-invented the combined oral contraceptive pill. Pincus began studying hormonal biology and steroidal hormones early in his career. His first breakthrough came early, when he was able to produce in vitro fertilization in rabbits in 1934. In 1953 Margaret Sanger approached Pincus about developing a new form of contraception. He was aware of a study showing that progesterone could work as an effective anti-ovulent, and he believed it would prove to be a good contraceptive drug. With funding from McCormick, in a matter of months Pincus and his colleague Min-Chueh Chang proved that repeated injections of progesterone stopped ovulation in animals. Chemists working for two separate drug companies had recently created orally effective forms of synthetic progesterone and both Syntex and Searle allowed Pincus to use the formulations in his preliminary human studies. He then collaborated with fertility specialist, Dr. John Rock, on human trials in Massachusetts. In 1956, after success with small trials, they launched large-scale human trials for the Pill in Puerto Rico using Searle's formulation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Searle's drug for contraceptive use in 1960. In 1965 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He died in 1967 at the age of 64 from a disorder of the bone marrow, myeloid metaplasia.
