Introduction:

As fertility care evolves, clinics are managing growing specimen volumes, more complex workflows, and rising expectations around safety, traceability, and long-term cryostorage.

Reprotech CEO Louis Villalba brings more than 30 years of healthcare leadership experience across fertility technology, reproductive health, medical devices, and digital healthcare infrastructure. In this Q&A, Lou shares his perspective on Reprotech’s next chapter, the operational realities facing fertility clinics, and the role technology can play in supporting safer, more scalable specimen management.

Q&A with Louis Villalba, CEO of Reprotech

What attracted you to leading Reprotech at this moment in fertility care?

Lou: I’ve spent more than 30 years helping bring new technologies into reproductive medicine. What attracted me to Reprotech was the opportunity to build the future of fertility specimen management on an extraordinary foundation of trust, experience, and operational discipline.

For more than 35 years, Reprotech has helped protect reproductive specimens across one of the most complex and high-responsibility areas of fertility care. Today, we safeguard more than 1.2 million specimens across our in-clinic storage systems and nationwide network of offsite repositories, while managing tens of thousands of specimen transfers and service transactions each year.

That scale has shaped how we think. It has given us decades of first-hand experience managing the operational, emotional, and clinical responsibility behind reproductive cryostorage.

Fertility care is entering a new era. Clinics are treating more patients, laboratory workflows are becoming more complex, and expectations around safety, transparency, and traceability continue to rise.

The opportunity ahead is to bring together Reprotech’s operational expertise, TMRW’s digital specimen management capabilities, and Matcher’s digital witnessing technology. Together, these capabilities allow us to build toward a more connected digital chain of custody across the specimen journey, from the laboratory through in-clinic storage, transport, and long-term cryostorage.

Our responsibility is clear: protect one of the most personal things patients will ever entrust to us, their opportunity to build a family.

Clinic teams are managing growing volumes, more complex workflows, and increasing pressure around storage. What do you see as the biggest operational challenge fertility clinics are facing now?

Lou: The biggest challenge is managing growth without increasing operational risk or placing more strain on laboratory teams.

As clinics treat more patients, they also manage larger specimen inventories, more storage tanks, more transfers, staffing pressures, regulatory expectations, and documentation requirements. Every additional specimen adds another layer of responsibility.

At Reprotech, we understand that complexity at scale. Managing more than one million specimens and tens of thousands of transactions each year has taught us that safety depends on disciplined processes, clear accountability, accurate documentation, and visibility into every specimen movement.

Clinic leaders need growth strategies that protect quality, safety, and trust. Reprotech’s role is expanding beyond long-term storage to support the broader specimen management process, helping clinics strengthen workflows, visibility, and chain of custody across the specimen journey.

Better systems absorb more of the complexity, giving embryologists and clinic teams more time for the work that requires their expertise.

We’ve talked a lot about “safe scaling.” What does that mean to you in practical terms for fertility clinics?

Lou: Safe scaling means a clinic’s systems become stronger as the practice grows.

In practical terms, clinic leaders should look closely at three areas: capacity, standardization, and traceability.

Capacity

Does the clinic have the physical capacity and operational support to manage continued growth safely?

Standardization

Are processes consistent and repeatable across people, locations, and storage environments?

Traceability

Can the team clearly identify where every specimen is, how it has been handled, and who has interacted with it throughout its journey?

As volume increases, safe scaling depends on standardized workflows, reliable storage infrastructure, clear documentation, and digital visibility around every specimen.

Reprotech has spent more than 35 years learning how to manage these responsibilities at scale. By combining that operational experience with TMRW and Matcher technology, we can help clinics expand capacity while building toward a stronger, more connected chain of custody.

Safe scaling gives clinics a path to grow while protecting quality, safety, and the trust patients place in them.

When you talk about traceability, what should clinic leaders understand beyond the technology?

Lou: Traceability starts as an operational discipline, supported by technology.

Every specimen must be identified correctly, every movement documented, every handoff accountable, and the specimen’s history understood throughout its lifecycle.

Specimens often move across multiple environments: from the laboratory to in-clinic storage, through transport, into a long-term repository, and potentially back to the clinic years later.

Reprotech manages tens of thousands of these transactions annually. Each handoff carries operational responsibility and patient trust. Digital tools strengthen visibility and documentation when they are paired with proven processes, trained teams, quality systems, and a culture of accountability.

Our long-term vision is a more connected digital chain of custody across the entire specimen journey. The result is a more reliable record of care, with less fragmentation and stronger visibility for clinics, laboratories, and storage partners.

Building that future will require collaboration among clinics, laboratories, technology providers, EMR platforms, transport partners, and repositories.

The strongest traceability systems turn data into a reliable record of care across every identification, movement, handoff, and patient journey.

How do you see technology supporting embryologists and lab teams rather than adding more burden?

Lou: Useful technology makes complex work easier to manage.

Embryologists have one of the most demanding and important roles in healthcare. Their expertise, judgment, and attention to detail remain central to care. Technology should support their work by reducing repetitive manual tasks, improving documentation, strengthening specimen identification, and providing better visibility across laboratory and storage workflows.

Throughout my career, from Genea Biomedx to TMRW, my work with Future Fertility, and now Reprotech, I have seen that the most successful innovations are developed alongside clinicians and embryologists. Adoption works best when technology fits naturally into the way teams already work.

Strong adoption depends on minimizing duplicate data entry, integrating with existing systems where possible, and helping staff identify potential issues earlier.

The combination of Matcher, TMRW, and Reprotech gives us a powerful perspective on this challenge.

• Matcher supports digital witnessing within the laboratory.
• TMRW provides digital identification, tracking, and inventory management capabilities.
• Reprotech brings decades of operational experience in long-term cryostorage and specimen movement.

As these capabilities become more connected, they can serve as a stronger support system for laboratory teams. They can strengthen documentation, improve visibility, and support a clearer chain of custody while giving embryologists more time to apply their expertise to patient care.

Technology should be measured by how well it helps people do their work more safely, consistently, and efficiently.

About Louis Villalba

Louis Villalba serves as Chief Executive Officer of Reprotech, where he leads the company’s vision to build a comprehensive, technology-enabled fertility storage and specimen management platform.

He brings more than 30 years of healthcare leadership experience across fertility, reproductive health, medical devices, and healthcare technology. Prior to Reprotech, Lou served as CEO of TMRW Life Sciences. He previously led Genea Biomedx and has held senior leadership roles with OvaScience, Evofem Biosciences, Auxogyn / Progyny, and Conceptus. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Future Fertility.