Like most males, I have been concerned with birth control most of my life. When I was a teenager there were admonitions from my parents to “be careful.” Though rarely put into words, I knew what they meant was: “Don’t get a girl pregnant.” I still remember overhearing a high school girl telling her friends that she was pregnant and her feelings of excitement at the prospect of being a mother and her recognition that this would mean the end of many of her dreams for the future.
As a young guy in college my then girlfriend and wife-to-be and I had sex for the first time when she announced that she was “on the pill” and so sex was now safe. But it was years before we realized that taking the pill had unexpected problems for her. We discussed a vasectomy for me, which scared me. The thought of having anything sharp touching my genitals was enough to make me run the other way.
After hearing about the procedure, I was still not reassured. I understood that the little tubes carrying the sperm would be cut, but exactly where the sperm would go was confusing. Although they told me the surgery could be reversed in the future, it was clear that it would be expensive, with no guarantees that it would be successful. I went ahead and got a vasectomy, but it seemed there should be a better choice for men. Now there is.
Meet Dr. Darlene Walley, Chief Executive Officer of NEXT Life Sciences
My own interest in helping men and women has evolved through the years. I graduated from college in 1965 and went to medical school, with the hope of becoming a doctor so I could help others. But medicine at the time was so narrowly focused I knew it wouldn’t help me to solve the problems that I was concerned about. I transferred to U.C. Berkeley and earned a master’s degree in social work. After working as a clinician for many years I went back to school and completed the requirements for a PhD in International Health and later helped develop the emerging field of Gender-Specific Medicine for men.
As a leader in this emerging field, I often get announcements of breakthrough technologies. A recent email grabbed my attention: “Male Contraceptive Plan A Completes First North American Clinical Trial with 100% Success.” The announcement went on say,
“Easily reversible, long-lasting male contraceptive Plan A continues to make its way toward FDA submission as it recently successfully completed its second clinical trial; this time in Canada.”
I read a press release by the company that told me about Dr. Darlene Walley:
“NEXT Life Sciences, the maker of the male contraceptive product Plan A™ and a leader in the development of other modern reproductive healthcare solutions announced today the promotion of Dr. Darlene R. Walley as the Chief Executive Officer of NEXT. Dr. Walley has already had incredible success in securing a clear pathway for Plan A with the FDA and it made sense for her to lead the entire organization to get our portfolio of products to market,”
said L.R. Fox, Founder and Executive Chairman of NEXT Life Sciences.
They go on to say,
“Plan A is one of many products in the pipeline as NEXT continues to revolutionize reproductive health. Dr. Walley is known for her tremendous success as an executive in both big Pharma and biotech startups where she has led companies specializing in drug development, manufacturing, and clinical research, and this rare combination puts her in an incredibly unique position to take all our critical products to the world.”
I reached out to Dr. Walley and did an interview with her which you can watch here. I learned that NEXT is revolutionizing modern reproductive healthcare and transforming lives through the development of its lead program, Plan A™, designed to provide a non-hormonal, long-lasting, and reversible contraceptive solution for men.
After talking with Dr. Walley, she validated my long-term experience that the current options for contraception and family planning focus mostly on female fertility, burdening women with a majority of the responsibility for reproductive planning. I also learned that negative side effects and health risks associated with these options have also led almost half of all females in the U.S. to discontinue their use.
From their website PlanAforMen I learned that :
- 121 million unplanned pregnancies take place every year globally.
- 80% of men in the U.S. feel sole or shared responsibility for pregnancy prevention.
- 17 million men in the U.S. are actively looking for a new contraceptive option that fits their lifestyle and relationship.
Clearly, there is a great need for a non-hormonal, long-lasting, and reversible contraceptive solution for men. But that is just the beginning.
Meet Dr. Bob Dudley, Chief Development Officer, NEXT Life Sciences
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dr. Bob Dudley was a member of the NEXT Life Sciences professional team. I worked with Dr. Dudley when he was Vice President of R&D at Unimed Pharmaceuticals. My fourth book, Male Menopause, was published in 1997 and addressed the reality that men, like women, go through their own hormonally driven change of life. The book soon became an international best-seller. I wrote about the importance of testosterone and was invited to meet with the professional staff at Unimed who had recently developed a new testosterone gel, called Androgel. I worked with their staff for five years helping educate professionals and the public about men’s health issues that had often been neglected.
Dr. Dudley is the primary Inventor of AndroGel®, one of the most successful men’s health products developed and commercialized worldwide.
“For over 30 years I have been involved in developing and commercializing products to improve men’s health,” says Dr. Dudley. “Being part of the leadership team at NEXT Life Sciences is a perfect fit for my experience and will enable me to use my talents to help create cutting-edge products that help men and women live better, more satisfying lives.”
He concludes saying,
“Working with men’s health issues is a calling for me. I’ve managed to find a career that continues to fascinate and energize me; it makes me feel like I’m making a positive difference for men. If you can manage to find a way to reap such rich internal rewards, you’re blessed!”
For more information about the male contraceptive PlanA, you can learn more here:
To learn more about NEXT Life Sciences, you can learn more here:
https://www.nextlifesciences.org
To watch my interview with Dr. Walley, you can do so here:
You can read more articles and learn about my own work with men’s health by visiting me here: https://menalive.com/
