NEXT Life Sciences announced that world-renowned vasectomy doctors have joined its medical advisory board, marking significant progress toward making a long-lasting, non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive available to men. As reported by NEXT, the advisors will provide expertise, guidance, and medical insight to the NEXT Life Sciences leadership team as the company advances through its clinical trials.
NEXT Life Sciences partnered with the Parsemus Foundation last year to further develop Vasalgel. The NEXT scientists have created a product named Plan A™ that is made with Vasalgel technology.
The medical advisory board members are well-known clinicians and researchers with expertise spanning male reproductive health, vasectomy, and andrology.
- Dr. John Amory has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers in the field of male reproduction and serves on the Advisory Board of the Male Contraception Initiative. He is currently Professor of Medicine and Section Head of General Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, where he works as an attending physician on the inpatient medicine wards and in the outpatient General Internal Medicine and Men’s Health Clinics.
- Dr. Michael Eisenberg currently directs the Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Program at Stanford University. Dr. Eisenberg serves as an associate editor of Fertility and Sterility and Andrology and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics. He is highly regarded both nationally and internationally and has delivered welcomed and celebrated lectures all over the globe.
- Dr. Ron Weiss, called the “Wayne Gretzky of vasectomies,” has performed nearly 60,000 vasectomies throughout his 30-year career, and is known as one of the most skilled practitioners of the no-scalpel vasectomy. In 2002 Dr. Weiss developed and refined the no-needle jet injector method of local anesthesia now used in Canada and around the world.
- Dr. Doug Stein has practiced adult general urology for over 17 years in Tampa, Florida, and now provides vasectomy services at up to 21 locations in Florida, many under the federal Title 10 program for low-income men without insurance. He is the Co-Founder of World Vasectomy Day, the largest annual male-oriented family planning event in history. He has performed over 50,000 vasectomies and 1900 vasectomy reversals.
This exciting news follows other advances in preparation for clinical trials of Plan A. New team members include Dr. Charles Carignan, who will lead clinical trials as Chief Medical Officer, and Cindy Domecus, who is serving as Chief Regulatory Advisor to guide the company as it navigates the FDA approval process. In June, NEXT Life Sciences raised $1.55 million to support the development and commercialization of Plan A. And L.R. Fox, CEO of NEXT Life Sciences, was invited to speak about male contraception at a congressional briefing called “The Latest Insights and Opportunities for Improving Family Planning Options for Maternal Wellbeing.”
The Parsemus Foundation is pleased to see all the pieces being put into place to ensure the successful first use of the Vasalgel technology in men. To stay up to date on future announcements, be sure to sign up at Plan A For Men.
