• NEXT Life Sciences

  Participated · Seed · Jan 2024

  NEXT Life Sciences is developing Plan A™, a device-based, non-hormonal male contraceptive that places a biocompatible Vasalgel® hydrogel in the vas deferens to block sperm flow. Plan A™ is designed to provide up to 10 years of pregnancy prevention while remaining reversible via a dissolving procedure. NEXT acquired the worldwide license to Vasalgel® in 2022 and has since optimized the technology toward clinical development. The company plans to start clinical trials for Plan A™ in 2024 and intends to pursue FDA marketing authorization following trials. NEXT’s leadership includes experienced executives and clinicians from medical device and contraceptive fields. Financially, the company recently received a $400K grant from the Male Contraceptive Initiative and completed a prior fundraising round led by Bolt.com founder Ryan Breslow and The Family with participation from Transform VC and angel and early-stage venture investors. NEXT Life Sciences, based in Los Angeles, is a medical device company developing Plan A, a non-hormonal, long-acting, reversible on-demand male contraceptive. Plan A's design utilizes a hydrogel (Vasalgel®) that acts as a flexible filter to block sperm flow in the vas deferens. NEXT acquired the exclusive worldwide license for Vasalgel® in 2022 and aims to advance the technology through FDA authorization and to market. The company plans to start clinical trials for Plan A in 2024, followed by submission to the FDA. NEXT announced an oversubscribed $2.5M funding round led by The Family, bringing total seed funding to date to $4M. Ryan Breslow has joined as a strategic advisor, and NEXT says its executive team has prior leadership experience in medical device and contraceptive commercialization. NEXT Life Sciences is developing Plan A™, a reversible male contraceptive that uses Vasalgel®, a proprietary hydrogel the company acquired. The Plan A procedure is similar to a no‑scalpel vasectomy but inserts a hydrogel filter to block sperm flow rather than cutting the vas deferens. Preclinical studies showed rapid restoration of sperm flow after Vasalgel® was dissolved and flushed from the vas deferens. The company raised $1.55M in seed funding to support development and commercialization of Plan A. NEXT is led by CEO L.R. Fox and has assembled a Medical Advisory Board to guide contraceptive development, including Dr. Charles Carignan. The company aims to initiate clinical trials by the end of 2023.

• UroDev Medical

  Participated · Seed · Oct 2017

  Spinal Singularity develops the Connected Catheter™, a fully internal, extended-use catheter system for adult males with chronic Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction that may remain in the body up to 29 days and could replace as many as 200 disposable intermittent catheters. The company is based in San Clemente, CA and was founded in 2015 by Derek Herrera; its leadership includes CEO William ‘Bill’ Colone, Director of R&D Jeff Kasalko, Director of Quality Stephanie Rallis, and Director of US Sales Shannon Metzger. It closed a $3.1M equity seed round to fund clinical validation of the Connected Catheter™ and has also earned over $500k in non-dilutive funding from sources including the NIH, NSF, IndieGoGo, the PrimeUC Competition and UCLA Business Plan Competitions. Spinal Singularity anticipates commencing First-in-Man clinical testing in 2017 and intends to pursue CE Mark approval and FDA clearance in 2018. The company is using the new funding specifically to support clinical validation efforts.

No current team members are available.