Bridging the Gap

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s 2021 Annual Report

The Golden Gate Bridge with its red towers stretches over water, partially covered by dense white fog under a clear blue sky. Cars are visible on the bridge, and the fog obscures part of the structure.

Introduction: "Bridging the Gap"

Revisiting a previous year’s efforts is always a welcome component of creating an organization’s annual report. It is very easy to get caught up in the rigors of daily roles and responsibilities and lose the proverbial forest from the trees, and this is especially true for small organizations with massive missions like Male Contraceptive Initiative. After all, in 2021 there were only 5 staff members at MCI working to do nothing short of changing the world by providing reproductive autonomy for all! Assembling our annual report is therefore an opportunity to look back, reflect, and share a summary of the incredible work we were able to accomplish and support.

During this period of introspection and reflection, the MCI staff looked to identify a through-line that captured the essence of the activities that defined 2021 and made it one of our most productive years to date. After evaluating our efforts, we arrived at “bridging the gap” as the theme for 2021.

Here are some of the ways that we championed bridging the gap in 2021:

Three stylized blue plants with dollar signs inside circles at the top, symbolizing financial growth or investment.

We expanded our funding portfolio through grants, Program Related Investments, and related activities that will help bring promising contraceptives for sperm-producers closer to market, while simultaneously providing long-term support for research and development of contraceptive methods for sperm-producers.

Icon of three blue human silhouettes, with a magnifying glass in front of the lower right figure, symbolizing searching or identifying people within a group.

We partnered with leading organizations on global market studies to assess male contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, among men and women (results coming soon!)

Blue icon showing a database with three stacked disks connected by lines to another rectangular component on the right, symbolizing data or database management.

We introduced a robust database of non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive targets in an effort to educate and excite the research community and general public about the myriad opportunities that exist.

A blue silhouette of an apple resting on top of a closed book with visible pages, symbolizing education and learning.

We created a library of educational primers and animated shorts to make the science of male reproductive biology and contraceptives for sperm-producers more accessible and engaging. (By the end of 2021, the animated shorts were viewed over 27,000 times on YouTube!)

A simple blue outline of a leaf is surrounded by two circular arrows, suggesting themes of sustainability, recycling, or eco-friendliness.

In an effort to demonstrate the global impact potential of providing more contraceptives for sperm-producers, we created a series connecting male contraception and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The following sections provide granularity into the activities that helped define an unforgettable year spent moving forward together.

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“For the first time this allows women not be the sole bearers of responsibility when it comes to contraception. It felt nice to be part of something that gives women more freedom.”

– Male Contraception Clinical Trial Participant

Male Contraceptive Initiative's Executive Director Heather Vahdat's Annual Letter

Dear All,

When our team proposed “Bridging the Gap” as the theme for our 2021 Annual Report, it was immediately clear that it was the right fit. One of the aspects of our work that we are most passionate about, second only to funding research and development of novel methods of non hormonal male contraception, is ensuring that the road ahead is clear for our development partners.

We all know that most of this path, the path to market, is still uncharted for male contraceptive products. A gap that has historically felt insurmountable. There are many ways to address a gap. One approach is to fill the void with fragmented bits of information, or silos of knowledge that create a bumpy and inefficient pathway; a competitive gauntlet where the finish line is reached with unnecessary cost and inefficient attempts due to repeated mistakes. Costs that ultimately and unfairly impact those for whom the products were meant to help.

Another approach is to work together, bringing knowledge, experience, successes, and challenges, all contributing to a structural framework that can benefit an entire community of developers and their stakeholders. A bridge. This is the approach that our male contraceptive research community has adopted.

We are proud to be part of a research community that continues to demonstrate a commitment to meaningful collaboration, cooperation, and knowledge sharing. A community that has mindfully decided to build a bridge together, embracing opportunities to give back in the wake of success, as the case with our Program Related Investments. A community who embraces learning and sharing experiences through webinars and participation in ideation events. A community that is committed to not only developing novel methods of male birth control, but to understanding how to develop methods with characteristics that end users want. A community supported by donors who are committed to expanding the reproductive method mix and to the vision of “Reproductive Autonomy for All”.

And we are proud to be working with, and grateful to be supported by, each of you reading this report. We hope that you are equally proud to see our shared accomplishments as detailed in the following sections.

Warm regards,

A stylized blue handwritten signature on a light background.

Heather Vahdat, MPH
Executive Director

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“When I think of just one unintended or mistimed pregnancy that is prevented due to the availability of additional male contraceptive methods, I also see the cascading impact: an equitable relationship between a couple who has the opportunity to plan for a healthy pregnancy or achieve their desire not to have children, a woman who is able to continue her education, or her career as she desires without enduring the risk of complications from an unintended pregnancy. I see an opportunity for greater economic outcomes at the individual, family, and societal level due to reduced health care costs and the ability to prepare for the costs of caring for and educating a child. I also see a reduced demand on environmental resources and a major step towards achieving all of the sustainable development goals.”

– Heather Vahdat, MPH, Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Executive Director

Organizational Overview

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s mission is to empower sperm-producers, and couples, to fully contribute to family planning goals by providing them the resources they need to achieve reproductive autonomy. Currently, there are only two contraceptives for sperm-producers on the market: condoms and vasectomy. The lack of male options both prevents sperm-producers from meaningfully participating in family planning and puts an undue burden on egg-producers to bear the responsibility of using contraception in order to avoid an unintended pregnancy.

We can and must do better!

Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI) was founded in 2014 in order to meaningfully address the lack of contraceptive options for sperm-producers. We are a global hub for researchers, philanthropists, and advocates searching for ways to advance the development of novel safe, non-hormonal, reversible contraceptives for sperm-producers. We believe that doing so empowers sperm-producers, egg-producers, and couples to better manage their family planning objectives, and that this will help reduce the 120+ million unintended pregnancies that occur globally each year.

MCI is working diligently to reimagine the contraception ecosystem and make it more inclusive and empowering for all people, irrespective of gender. After all, the only way to achieve reproductive autonomy for anyone is by providing contraceptive resources to everyone!

Infographic titled Reproductive Autonomy for All. It explains challenges in reproductive health for men and women, focusing on the need for accessible contraception and addressing mens lack of options and knowledge.

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Vision Statement

Our work is critical to improving family planning, and is divided into two interconnecting pillars of activities:

FUNDING

We provide support to the research and development community developing non-hormonal, reversible contraceptives for sperm-producers through investments, grants, professional development opportunities, and more.

FUNDING

ADVOCACY

We support the research community and contraceptive advocates through outreach efforts that include a robust website, social media, films, infographics, webinars, and other resources that educate the general public and promote the work being done to make new contraceptive products for sperm-producers a reality.

ADVOCACY

We believe that developing new methods of non-hormonal, reversible contraception for sperm-producers will reduce instances of unintended pregnancy, increase contraceptive acceptability, expand contraceptive prevalence rates, and decrease instances of unmet need with respect to family planning products.

Infographic titled Theory of Change: Achieving Reproductive Autonomy with Male Contraception showing a flowchart of inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts of developing new male contraceptive methods.

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Theory of Change

ABOUT US

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“Male contraception is an opportunity. An opportunity for a global impact that helps people across the economic, health, and social spectrum. I also think it’s a challenge, both for those developing new male methods of contraception, as well as the potential users of those methods; it’s a challenge to rise to the times and contribute towards something that really, truly, can change the world.”

– Logan Nickels, PhD, Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Research Director

Highlights from 2021

At Male Contraceptive Initiative we view every challenge as an opportunity and, despite all that 2021 threw our way, this year proved to be one of our most productive and impactful years yet.

We share some of the best moments from our 2021 in the infographic below, and map each of these accomplishments to our organizational principles to illustrate how they align with our vision and mission.

Infographic titled Male Contraceptive Initiative outlines 2021 actions, including grants, team science, funding, advocacy, and research, aiming for reproductive autonomy and new contraceptive options.

MCI’s 2021 Highlights

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“It’s a fundamental human issue. What makes us human? It’s our ability to control our own destiny; ‘free will’. We men don’t have the ability to control our reproductive health. That has negative ramifications for our relationship dynamics, sustainability, everything really. A lack of male options abdicates men’s responsibility in the reproductive health conversation. Whether or when to have children is an individual decision and we need to have products that empower people to make the best decision for them.”

– Kevin Shane, Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Marketing & Communications Director

Funding

Our investment strategy is focused on maximizing impact while accelerating the research and development timelines for new male contraceptives.

We commit as much of our funding as possible towards programs and activities that facilitate research and development of new male contraceptive products and to support professional development of the next generation of researchers and advocates. This strategy positions Male Contraceptive Initiative to achieve impact in both the short-term and long-term.

The graphic below provides detail into how we utilized our 2021 funding to advance the male contraception field:

A pie chart shows MCI’s 2021 investment summary of $3,051,321: 89.2% to Research, 4.7% to Advocacy, 5.9% to Administration, and 0.9% to Fundraising, with brief descriptions of each category.

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s 2021 Funding Activities

FUNDING

Male Contraceptive Initiative's Funding Strategy

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“For me male contraception is just about more options. I’m excited for what it could do for gender and sexual minorities who are currently underserved. I’m excited for ciswomen to have the option to be able to contracept without taking contraception. And I want cismen to have reproductive autonomy.”

– Kathryn Carpenter, MPH, Male Contraceptive Initiative’s Advocacy Strategist

Research

Grantees & Investment Partners

Our diverse mix of funding activities include grants structured to accelerate contraceptive development, Program Related Investments that promote promising technologies, and support for young professionals working in the male contraceptive space.

Our funding strategy represents a holistic opportunity for support across every step of the product development pathway, and our grants are designed for impact, working across disciplines, institutions, and borders. We also make key investments in discrete activities related to male contraceptive development, attitudes, and social determinants in order to illustrate the demand for and impact of new methods of male contraception.

Meet the Grantees that received support from Male Contraceptive Initiative in 2021:

A person with short brown hair, wearing red glasses, a gray sweater with a textured collar, and a pink shirt, is smiling in front of a plain light-colored background.

MCI is supporting Dr. Mannowetz’s work in moving towards first-in-man studies of a reversible male contraceptive that prevents the production of new sperm.

DR. NADIA MANNOWETZ

A smiling older man with gray hair and glasses wearing a blue jacket stands near a body of water, with boats and greenery visible in the background.

MCI’s grants support IND-enabling milestones that are required for Eppin Pharma to reach its goal of submitting an IND application to the FDA and entering first-in-man studies of their male contraceptive candidate, EP055

DR. MICHAEL O'RAND

A woman with long, dark hair wearing a sleeveless white top smiles at the camera in a bright, blurred indoor setting, likely a lab or office.

MCI is supporting Dr. Benhabbour’s work in developing a novel long-acting, reversible contraceptive (LARC) delivery device that could result in months or years of efficacy at a time.

DR. RAHIMA BENHABBOUR

A smiling older woman with short brown hair is wearing a yellow textured jacket over a white top, standing against a plain light-colored background.

MCI’s support for Dr. Georg’s work comes in the form of grants as well as a program-related investment and allows Dr. Georg’s lab to do early development on multiple avenues of male contraception.

DR. GUNDA GEORG

A woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a blue collared shirt with a white collar, posing in front of a plain gray background.

MCI is supporting Dr. Chung’s work in developing a screening platform that allows the identification of small molecule inhibitors of CatSper.

DR. JEAN-JU CHUNG

A man with a bald head, beard, and glasses is wearing a white lab coat and colorful tie, smiling at the camera. The lab coat has Baylor College of Medicine and Ph.D. visible on it. The background is blurred.

MCI’s support allows Dr. Garcia to not only revive the Mammalian Reproductive Genetics Database (MRGD), but also perform a genetic analysis to demonstrate that specific contraceptive targets are associated with infertility.

DR. THOMAS GARCIA

OUR GRANTEES

Fellows

Trainee support provided to undergraduate and graduate students is another key component of our research funding strategy. Providing the financial and human resource support for these students both ensures the completion of important investigative work, and that male contraception is viewed as a viable career path for a young investigator. Through these efforts, we provide support from the classroom to the boardroom, meaningfully contributing to keeping talented researchers interested in the male contraception field working towards realizing the next generation of male contraceptive methods.

Meet the Fellows that joined the Male Contraceptive Initiative family in 2021:

A woman with long brown hair wearing a black and white polka dot dress stands indoors on a bright balcony with a hammock and large windows in the background.

Carla Ritagliati

Carla is a postdoctoral researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. Her project is on sAC, an adenylyl cyclase essential for sperm to reach and fertilize the oocyte. In a collaborative project across institutions, the Levin/Buck laboratory has successfully developed highly potent and selective sAC inhibitors.

A young woman with long brown hair stands outside on a sunny day, wearing a black jacket and sunglasses on her head. Green grass and trees are in the background, with a building partially visible.

Candice Yi Tian Yap

Candice is a PhD candidate in Dr Zhibing Zhang’s lab at the Department of Physiology, Wayne State University. Her research revolves around the investigation of the association between PACRG (parkin co regulated gene) and DNALI1 (dynein light intermediate polypeptide 1), two proteins intimately involved with sperm structure and function.

A person with short brown hair and glasses smiles outdoors, wearing a denim shirt over a dark t-shirt and a rainbow lanyard. Green foliage and sunlight are in the background.

Brendan Houston

Brendan is a postdoctoral researcher working with Moira O’Bryan at the Bio21 Institute and School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research has recently shown that malate dehydrogenase 1B (MDH1B), a novel sperm specific energy protein, is essential for male fertility.

OUR FELLOWS

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“I wish people knew how impactful it could be having different effective male contraceptives. I hope people come to learn the intentions of those who are creating and advocating for male contraceptives. I wish that everyone knew that male contraceptives could change their sexual and reproductive lives for the better. Also, I wish everyone knew how challenging the process of developing a contraceptive method for commercial use is.”

– Jaylan Weaver, MCI Youth Advisory Board Member

Advocacy

Educating the general public about male reproductive biology and contraception is a vital part of our work, as is promoting the great work being done all over the world to address the imbalance in contraceptive methods that puts an undue burden on egg-producers to manage family planning goals.

By providing educational resources we can empower the public to be advocates for the field. These efforts also help to ensure that the world at large is not only prepared and excited for the next generation of contraception, but knowledgeable as well. We view Male Contraceptive Initiative as a platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing; a one-stop shop for all information related to non-hormonal, reversible contraception for sperm-producers.

In 2021, this manifested in multiple ways, including:

Creating a library of educational primers and animated shorts to make the science of male reproductive biology and contraceptives for sperm-producers more accessible
Developing a series connecting male contraception and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in an effort to connect contraceptives for sperm-producers to sustainability goals and challenges
Publishing a forum that outlines the purpose of and funding opportunities provided by Male Contraceptive Initiative
Designing a robust set of “Personas” and related activities for the research community and general public to utilize in brainstorming about the contraceptives of the future

ADVOCACY

Advocating for Male Contraception

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“Controlling one’s reproduction is a human right – not just for women.”

– MCI Donor

Donor Highlight

Contraception for sperm-producers is an under-funded and under-researched area of scientific enquiry that has incredible potential to address many pressing challenges affecting the world today.

Nonprofits like MCI play an extremely critical role in ensuring research and development activities receive the support they need to continue.

Consider this: between 2018-2020 a mere $257 million was invested in contraception research and development for all genders. Philanthropic sources like MCI accounted for nearly HALF (47%, $122 million) of that investment.

Without generous donors like you, the work necessary to bring the next generation of contraceptives to market simply would not be possible.

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s strategy is to support the research community developing contraceptives for sperm-producers throughout every step of their professional development and careers as they work towards bringing the next generation of contraception to market. As a nonprofit, we rely solely on donations to achieve the impact needed to bring new male methods to market, and are extremely grateful for every dollar we receive.

Meet the male contraception champions that supported Male Contraceptive Initiative in 2021:

Infographic showing a pie chart of $257M total contraceptive funding (2018-2020). 48% is public funds, 47% philanthropic, 5% pharmaceutical industry. Text in blue states 95% is from public & charitable sources. Categories are defined on the right.

Hall of Fame ($100,000 and up)

Anonymous

VIPs ($1,000 to $100,000)

James L. Northrup
Xixi & Jonathan Shakes
Valerie Tarico
Ian Flower
Marley Danielle Arborico
Connie Woodlief
Margaret Battin Battin
Parsemus Foundation
Thijs Houtenbos

Core Supporters ($100 to $1,000)

Brynn Arborico
Gunda Georg
Anonymous
Wade Gobel
Brodie Stephens
Karen Blyth
Mary Ann Handel
Darrell Budic
Heather Vahdat
Edward Hong
Kate Arthur
Peter Black
Aaron Hamlin
Chris Hewell Garrett
Cory Dalton
David Sokal
Donald Lawson
Gail Tosto
Greg Kopf
Jon Thornton
Ozzie Aery Fallick
Paul Dixon
Scott Butters

Contributors ($1 to $100)

Chris Greenley
Christian Frederiksen
Paul Dixon
Anonymous
Roland Moerker
Ruud Salym Erie
Ted Benson
Tobias Mohr
Colin Dean
Nathan La Porte
Louis Burke
Nancy Wallace
Aubrey Cole
Carolyn Jenkins
Craig McMaster
Dajahi Wiley
Guillermo Lopez
Lea Weirich
Neal Verma
Nic Suther
Stephen Black
Will Grandbois
Zane Wayman
Andreas Gustafsson
Hubert Pach

DONATE

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“It’s vital that good contraceptive methods are available to men, and that men can take on that responsibility. That’s why Male Contraceptive Initiative is important. That’s why I give.”

– MCI Donor

MCI Staff & Board

Male Contraceptive Initiative’s staff is composed of a dedicated group of individuals with varied and diverse expertise. We are committed to providing the support that the male contraceptive research community needs in order to bring new methods of male contraception to market, as well as the resources necessary to educate the general public and empower advocates to champion the cause of “Reproductive Autonomy for All”.

MEET THE TEAM

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“Birth control is essential health care—full stop. And it’s health care that helps ensure everyone can control their own bodies, lives and futures. With reproductive rights under attack from every angle, we’ve got to stand up and make clear that no one should be able to come between a patient and the birth control they need—including being turned away at the pharmacy.”

– Patty Murray, United States Senator

Contact

We would love to hear from you! We understand that our collective impact will always be far greater than our individual one. Please reach out to us and let’s discuss how we can move the field of male contraception forward together.

811 Ninth Street, Suite 120 #255, Durham, NC 27705
+1 (984) 464-2951
contact@malecontraceptive.org

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