CAN Marketing One-pager — Contraceptive Accelerator Network

Progress Accelerated.

Our mission at Contraceptive Accelerator Network (CAN) is developing and advancing sperm-related, non-hormonal and reversible contraceptive therapies towards human clinical trials.

We seek to address the significant gap in funding between early and late stage sperm-targeting contraception that has prevented novel contraceptive products from reaching the market.

This “valley of death” has caused promising contraceptive methods from being abandoned due to insufficient support. CAN is strategically structured and positioned to steward methods beyond this precarious development phase in an accelerated manner. Through strategic partnerships, an expansive network of collaborators, innovative funding models, and a mission-driven mentality, CAN is uniquely positioned to address the imbalanced method mix in contraception that puts an undue burden on egg-producers to shoulder the family planning responsibilities.

The Global Challenge

The existing contraceptive method mix is significantly skewed towards women and people with uteruses, meaning that these individuals are primarily responsible for preventing an unintended pregnancy. For men and other sperm-producers, the only reversible method of contraception currently available is condoms (with a typical use failure rate of 12%). Vasectomy is also a contraceptive option, but it is intended to be permanent and reversing one can be challenging and expensive.

There are many reasons why this imbalance has persisted and still exists today:

The narrow definition of “risk” when it comes to pregnancy that constrains it to only consider physical risks
The complex nature of male reproductive biology (including the 1,000+ sperm produced each second) and our limited understanding of it
The social and economic benefits that contraception has provided to women, leading to the belief among many that birth control is only for women
The limited amount of funding into the research and development of new contraceptives, especially male-focused methods

The last point, funding, is particularly poignant as it can cost hundreds of millions of dollars (or more!) to bring a new drug to market.

Our Proposed Solution

We work creatively and nimbly to overcome the existing challenges in order to greatly expand the number of contraceptive methods for men and other sperm-producers beyond just condoms and vasectomy.

Increasing the number of contraceptive methods for men would greatly aid in empowering people with reproductive autonomy. This would reduce the burden on women and egg-producers to manage family planning goals while also helping to reduce the 120+ million unintended pregnancies that occur globally every year.

In the United States, a novel contraceptive method for people who produce sperm could help reduce unintended pregnancy rates each year while also helping to meet the considerable demand that exists for these new contraceptives.

CAN’s Organizational Overview

Contraceptive Accelerator Network (CAN) is a small mission-centric pharmaceutical company created with the specific intent of ensuring that promising non-hormonal, reversible contraceptive targets receive the support necessary to develop them as next generation birth control methods delivered to those who produce sperm.

The Contraceptive Accelerator Network, LLC was spun out from Male Contraceptive Initiative (MCI) as a wholly owned, for profit subsidiary with $1.0M in private investment. It works in parallel with MCI to identify appropriate programs and support them with the testing and evaluation processes required prior to Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies and Clinical Trials.

The company’s operations are streamlined and intentionally designed to maximize cost efficiency in all activities, taking advantage of the many drug discovery resources commercially available to increase our impact while reducing overhead costs and allowing for an expanded portfolio of projects as and when appropriate.