With the long-acting, non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive she envisioned now in clinical trials, Parsemus Foundation founder and trustee Elaine Lissner shares her lifelong quest to bring new male contraceptive options to men and their partners worldwide.
From “RISUG” to “Vasalgel” to “Plan A”: a bit of the backstory
Since my undergraduate days, I’ve known that multiple male contraceptives were being studied but were not being given sufficient resources to make it to the finish line. It was the 1980’s, and policymakers weren’t sure that men or women would even want new options for male contraception.
Frustrated at the slow pace, I started the Male Contraception Information Project to address myths and help the public and researchers advocate to policymakers for new male contraception. The letters and surveys we received certainly supported the desire for new male contraceptives!
In 2005, I had the opportunity to start the nonprofit Parsemus Foundation to finally do some of the pilot work we’d been advocating for. While the Parsemus Foundation focuses on many different topics, our largest and longest program has been the development of Vasalgel, a male contraceptive that simply keeps sperm from passing through the vas deferens, no hormones required.
Vasalgel, which we began developing in 2010, was inspired by RISUG, a polymer gel vas-occlusive method developed in the 1970’s by a brilliant out-of-the-box thinker in India. It has a long track record of effectiveness in men, with reversal shown in multiple animal studies. But it had not made the transition to other countries.
As the years went by, our project team grew, and we made progress. And we knew how important our work was — we had a list of over 50,000 men and women waiting for Vasalgel to become available!
Time to pass the torch
New male contraceptive ideas continued to develop over time, but without significant resources from larger investors or pharmaceutical companies, most new ideas never got off the ground. There are many steps in developing a medical product, including laboratory testing, manufacturing, and preclinical testing.
As a small nonprofit, the Parsemus Foundation completed many of the early steps in developing Vasalgel but lacked the financial and human resources to take the next major steps through the approval process. We were at a critical juncture and decided that it was time to turn the project over to people who could take it across the finish line.
The Parsemus Foundation began investigating options for partners. There was plenty of interest, given that some of the time-consuming early work was complete, but we took our time in evaluating each offer before selecting NEXT Life Sciences, led by L. R. Fox (who goes by “Fox”). Not only was Fox a proven entrepreneur, but our passion for the importance of male contraception aligned with his. Like me, he was dedicated to getting male contraception to a wide market at an affordable cost. And so began the next phase of Vasalgel’s development.
“Since we partnered with NEXT Life Sciences, so much has been accomplished! With an experienced team and investors advancing the project, NEXT Life Sciences has developed the ‘Plan A’ contraceptive using Vasalgel technology.”
-Elaine Lissner, founder and trustee of the Parsemus Foundation
Now is the time for male contraception
Since we partnered with NEXT Life Sciences, so much has been accomplished! With an experienced team and investors advancing the project, NEXT Life Sciences has developed the “Plan A” contraceptive using Vasalgel technology. In addition to validating and fine-tuning the gel, they’ve created precision delivery and removal approaches that had eluded us.
I’ve been so happy to see their scientific lead, Steve Bacich, systematically addressing the questions that had challenged us, using his experience in both contraception and cardiac catheterization systems. And NEXT’s CEO, Darlene Walley, has brought the professionalism, energy, and pharmaceutical/regulatory experience that male contraception has always deserved. She’s also a tireless advocate for the project.
Just as important, NEXT has remained aligned with our social mission. Nonprofit funding and research have laid the foundation for Plan A to ensure this technology reaches all men who are interested, not just a select few. We look forward to continued success over the coming years and to realizing our goal of bringing a new male contraceptive to market.
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