We recently connected with Mehek Bapna and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mehek, thanks for joining us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
For millions of women and gender-diverse individuals, accessing birth control that works seamlessly with their lives remains a significant challenge. Manglovo Health is on a mission to change that. Through our groundbreaking once-weekly, non-hormonal oral contraceptive, we are tackling the barriers to reproductive healthcare head-on—offering a safer, more effective, and accessible solution for those who need it most.
The journey of today’s birth control user is often riddled with compromise. Take our close friend Teia (name changed for privacy), for example. She started her contraceptive journey with hormonal daily oral pills, but the daily regimen was difficult to maintain, leading to frequent stress about unintended pregnancy. Seeking a more hands-off option, she turned to hormonal implants—only to endure intense mood swings, weight gain, and emotional instability. Frustrated, Teia opted for a copper IUD, a non-hormonal solution, but the insertion procedure was so painful she passed out. What followed were months of heavy bleeding and debilitating cramps.
Teia’s story is far from unique. Over 151 million women worldwide use oral contraceptives, and a staggering 60% of U.S. users say they would prefer a non-hormonal option. Yet, the market is saturated with solutions that either disrupt natural hormonal rhythms or come with intolerable side effects like mood swings, weight gain, or severe pain. The frustration is particularly acute in underserved communities, where healthcare access is limited, and systemic inequities amplify the struggle to find suitable options.
Contraception isn’t just about preventing pregnancy—it’s about unlocking opportunities for autonomy, education, and financial stability. Yet, many individuals, especially in underserved communities, lack access to options that truly work for them. Hormonal side effects and burdensome routines disproportionately impact those with limited resources, further exacerbating cycles of inequity.
Manglovo Health’s solution directly addresses these issues. By offering a non-hormonal, user-friendly alternative, the company is empowering individuals who have been overlooked by traditional healthcare systems. We are proving that better birth control isn’t just possible—it’s essential.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Manglovo Health is revolutionizing contraceptive care with Aya, a once-weekly, non-hormonal oral contraceptive designed to fit seamlessly into users’ lives. Co-founded by Mehek Bapna and Emi Gaçaj, the company addresses the unmet needs of millions who are frustrated by the limitations of current birth control options. Through innovative science and a deep understanding of user experiences, Manglovo Health delivers a product that prioritizes safety, efficacy, and convenience.
Contraception plays a critical role in supporting autonomy, education, financial stability, and generational well-being. Over half the population will rely on birth control for three decades of their lives, yet many are left dissatisfied with existing methods. Hormonal options often cause mood swings, weight gain, and heightened risks of conditions like breast cancer, while non-hormonal alternatives such as the copper IUD can lead to severe pain and heavy bleeding. Meanwhile, the daily regimen of pills creates adherence challenges and adds stress to users’ lives. The demand for better solutions is clear: 60 percent of U.S. contraceptive users prefer non-hormonal methods, but their options remain limited.
Aya addresses these challenges with a groundbreaking approach. Built on ormeloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), Aya works by targeting the uterine lining to prevent implantation while preserving the body’s natural hormonal rhythms. This avoids the systemic side effects common to hormonal contraceptives, such as mood instability and reduced libido. With a once-weekly dosing schedule, Aya is not only effective—with efficacy rates of 93 to 100 percent—but also far more convenient. Research shows that weekly dosing improves adherence by 90 percent and continued use by 20 percent compared to daily methods, giving users one less thing to worry about in their busy lives.
Manglovo Health stands out in the competitive contraceptive market by providing a solution that combines efficacy, tolerability, and convenience—three attributes that rarely coexist in a single product. Aya’s unique profile positions it as a first-in-class contraceptive, bridging the gap between user needs and available options. Its thoughtful design and patient-centered approach resonate deeply with modern users who refuse to compromise on their health and well-being.
The company has a strong and ambitious timeline to bring Aya to market. After their foundation in 2024, Manglovo is advancing toward preclinical trials and FDA approval. Clinical studies are set to begin in 2026, with a U.S. launch planned for 2029 and international expansion to follow. This roadmap reflects the company’s commitment to rigorous science, regulatory excellence, and delivering a product that meets global safety and efficacy standards.
Aya isn’t just a contraceptive—it’s a movement toward reproductive justice. By designing a product that is scalable, affordable, and accessible, Manglovo Health aims to address systemic inequities in healthcare and ensure that individuals across diverse populations can access better contraceptive options. The company’s innovative approach and commitment to equity make it an exciting opportunity for investors seeking to support transformative health solutions. With a projected market opportunity of $9 billion in the U.S. alone and 90 percent of surveyed users expressing interest in switching to Aya, Manglovo Health is poised to disrupt the contraceptive landscape.
Mehek and Emi’s leadership blends lived experience with scientific expertise, giving them an authentic understanding of the challenges users face. Supported by a team of world-renowned advisors, including experts in reproductive endocrinology and pharmaceutical innovation, Manglovo Health bridges the gap between user needs and cutting-edge science. Their mission is to empower individuals with a contraceptive solution that allows them to thrive—free from the burdens of side effects and daily adherence.
Manglovo Health is changing the way people think about contraception. Aya represents not just a product, but a promise: a future where reproductive care is equitable, effective, and empowering for all. For users and investors alike, Manglovo Health is offering something truly revolutionary—a chance to be part of a brighter, freer future, where birth control fits seamlessly into user’s bodies and lives.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Our journey with Manglovo Health began not as a business, but as a passion for advocacy. We met in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, through an Instagram story shared by a mutual friend. Mehek was rallying community members to advocate for a just Covid response in Congress, and Emi eagerly joined the team. At just 17, she was the youngest member, but inspired by Mehek’s leadership, she found the courage to voice community needs and became an invaluable asset in connecting with policymakers.
We became close friends through late-night FaceTime sessions, biryani parties, and stacking up wins in our coalition building. Together, we tackled systemic issues like Black maternal health, public health equity, and reproductive justice. Eventually, we both left our hometown of Minneapolis for college in New York—Mehek to NYU to study Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Public Health, and Emi to Columbia to study Evolutionary Biology.Even as we pursued different paths, we were always each other’s first call for support in our health equity projects.
The turning point came when we realized we could combine our advocacy and scientific expertise with entrepreneurship to create tangible change. We had both spent years in research—Mehek at NYU Langone and Northwestern Medicine, where she earned NIH and ARCC grants, and Emi at Columbia and the University of Minnesota. Emi also founded The Body Org, a national sexual health organization by youth and for youth, and became a birth doula. Through all this work, we both saw the same problem over and over: birth control options that fail to meet the needs of users. Instead of just asking why a better option didn’t exist, we asked how we could create it.
That’s how Manglovo Health was born. We were inspired by ormeloxifene, a drug available in India with minimal side effects and low daily burden (that Mehek heard about in one of her classes!), and we saw an opportunity to improve upon it and bring a once-weekly, non-hormonal birth control pill to the U.S. and global markets. What started as a side passion for improving healthcare evolved into our full-time purpose. Women and gender-diverse people deserve better, and we believe we can make it happen.
Since launching Manglovo Health, we’ve hit key milestones like being accepted into the Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator, joining Science Inc. and the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub, and refining our product vision through an NIH research fellowship. To further fortify our efforts, we’ve built a powerhouse advisory team of scientists with expertise in SERMs, contraception, and clinical and regulatory processes—transforming us from scrappy first-time entrepreneurs into leaders driving innovation in reproductive health.
We are not content to sit on our hands and wait for someone else to someday make this drug available more broadly. Instead, we’re taking action. We’ve poured everything we love—science, community mobilization, health equity, and seeing our friends thrive—into this work. What began as late-night brainstorming sessions has turned into a company that’s poised to transform reproductive health, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what’s next.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
At Manglovo Health, our journey has been one of constant learning, unlearning, and adapting—an intricate dance between science, stakeholders, and the ever-shifting constraints of reality. We began with a bold vision: to create next-generation contraception that works seamlessly with users’ bodies and lives. Initially, we started with what felt like the perfect solution: a drug formulation that was not only effective but also embodied our mission – addressing the unmet needs that have long gone unacknowledged in the contraceptive space.
It checked all the boxes—or so we thought.
Then, reality intervened. Sometimes, we found that the regulatory pathways for a promising version were impenetrable. Other times, the intellectual property landscape forced us to pivot to another iteration—not because the science wasn’t strong, but because the story we wanted to tell, the change we wanted to create, couldn’t legally or ethically exist in the form we imagined. And occasionally, the weight of history—failed attempts by others, patient mistrust, or past missteps in the industry—made us realize that moving forward meant starting over.
What makes this so hard is the emotional investment. You think you’ve found the answer—an innovation that could transform lives. But then you learn it’s not viable, at least not the way you planned. Each step required trade-offs. Could we pursue a solution that worked but wasn’t fully optimized? Would it meet our standards of tolerability, accessibility, and convenience? For us, the answer was always clear: good enough isn’t good enough. A contraceptive that burdens users with systemic side effects, daily adherence challenges, or inconvenience isn’t aligned with our mission.
And in those moments, the heartbreak is real.
But so is the hope. Each pivot, each turn back to the drawing board, has been an opportunity to expand our understanding of what’s possible and to better align our solution with the needs of the patients, providers, regulators, and markets we serve.
At Manglovo Health, we are developing birth control that empowers people to control their reproductive choices by eliminating the compromises users have come to expect—side effects, daily burdens, and lack of autonomy. Every pivot brings us closer to a future where contraception is no longer just tolerated but embraced—where our non-hormonal, once-weekly oral contraceptive integrates seamlessly into the rhythm of life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://manglovohealth.com
- Instagram: @manglovohealth
- Facebook: @manglovohealth
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/manglovohealth
- Twitter: @manglovohealth
