Tuesday June 21, 2016 The long-acting, nonhormonal contraceptive - for men.

Vasalgel early-stage supporters come through

May campaign raises $85k+

Parsemus Foundation rarely asks the many fans of Vasalgel to contribute money to the development of this new contraceptive option. Usually, it's enough that you spread the word about Vasalgel! But with expenses mounting in preparation for the first clinical trial, and discussions with social investors not yet underway, a funding gap loomed -- and we asked for your support.



And Vasalgel's supporters responded. This fundraising campaign raised more than $85,000, and covered almost two thirds of the cost to produce the batch of Vasalgel needed for the clinical trial.



We recognize everyone who donated prior to June 1 as an "early-stage supporter" of Vasalgel. Stickers are in the mail to donors of $20 and above ("I'm nuts about Vasalgel" -- and also, for donors of $100, the very last of the "No more monkeying around with contraception" stickers from the baboon study). While it remains to be seen whether we'll be able to offer clinical trial priority to early supporters (it'll be partly up to regulators), if you donated, your name is on the list for consideration.



And thanks again to the two Vasalgel supporters who each matched donations up to $5k -- a longtime fan in the Seattle area, and Damon Copeland of Tennessee. Vasalgel reversibility: How important?

Results of the opinion survey

A key goal for Vasalgel is that it would not only be an effective long-acting male contraceptive, but also be reversible: a Vasalgel user who decides he wants to have children would be able to get his sperm flow restored with the injection of a liquid that dissolves the gel. In rabbit studies, an injection of a dissolving solution was able to flush Vasalgel from the vas deferens and restore the sperm flow -- but this has proved trickier so far in larger animals. Will reversal work in men?



To better understand how much the answer matters to people who are interested in Vasalgel, we invited Vasalgel Update readers to take a brief survey.



4,467 of you responded. The great majority (87%) identified as "a guy who needs (or might need) contraception." These respondents were presented with additional questions, such as whether they'd consider freezing their sperm (a somewhat expensive option, unfortunately) as a way to "keep the door open" to having kids in the future in case Vasalgel isn't reliably reversible.



Read the results and a sampling of comments from men and women in our "Latest News" blog. We're working hard and are grateful for your support!



Sincerely,

the Vasalgel™ team



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