A natural male contraceptive.

Men have had no new contraceptive method in over a century.

Roughly half of pregnancies worldwide are unintended, yet the burden of prevention — the health risks, side effects, and daily management — falls almost entirely on women.

Men's only options are condoms (unreliable in typical use) and vasectomy (surgical and effectively permanent). Nothing sits between them. Surveys consistently show most men would use a reversible option, and that their partners want them to share the responsibility.

An oral, plant-based, reversible contraceptive for men.

Sovereign is derived from Justicia gendarussa, a tropical shrub used traditionally as a male contraceptive. Its active compounds interfere with sperm's ability to penetrate the egg — without affecting sperm count, hormones, or libido.

The mechanism is non-hormonal, pre-fertilisation, and reversible: stop taking it, and fertility returns.

Three decades of clinical research. Seven generations of indigenous use.

Indonesian university studies documented 99.46% efficacy in Phase 2, with full reversibility. Sovereign is independently reproducing the key protein-level findings from that work through two proteomics studies run with a Costa Rican research institute.

Several forces are converging.

• A humanitarian crisis in West Papua. More than 107,000 Indigenous Papuans are displaced by expanding military operations. Partnership, revenue sharing, and international visibility can bring these communities much-needed support, and may even ease the economic and political factors driving the conflict.
• The knowledge is disappearing. Papua holds roughly 270 Indigenous languages, among the world's most endangered. The ethnobotanical knowledge they carry — the traditional medicine this plant comes from — is projected to be lost within the next several generations.
• Women's reproductive rights are under pressure. As access narrows, demand is rising for shared responsibility and for healthier, non-hormonal options.
• Men are redefining masculinity. Amid a cultural reckoning with toxic masculinity, more men want to show up with integrity in partnership and community — and to share contraceptive responsibility. Sovereign speaks to that shift.
• An open window. The nearest competitors are five to seven years from market.

Partnership as both principle and defensibility.

The contraceptive use of Justicia gendarussa originates with the Nimboran people of Indonesian Papua. Sovereign intends to pursue partnership, revenue sharing, and cultural preservation with Nimboran and other source communities.

Under the Nagoya Protocol, these benefit-sharing agreements run with the IP — an ethical commitment that is also a durable competitive moat. International visibility and partnership can serve as a form of protection for communities under threat.

A staged path to market.

Intended path to market: licensing to an established pharmaceutical partner.

Access is built into the model: higher prices in wealthy markets subsidise affordable — and where possible, free — access in lower-income regions. Those who can pay more make the product reachable for those who can't.

Chris Shewchuk — Founder & CEO

Years of plant medicine, relationship work, and explorations in indigenous and alternative traditions led Chris to Justicia gendarussa. Sovereign is built to bring that forward with scientific rigour and integrity.

Founder-led and pre-seed, with institutional lab partnerships across Costa Rica and Canada.