Mirvie announces landmark study on pregnancy complications

The US pregnancy platform Mirvie has completed enrolment of its 10,000 person research study on pregnancy complications.

The study seeks to understand how RNA messages found in expectant mothers’ blood can predict life-threatening pregnancy complications.

One area of study relates to cell-free RNA’s prediction of preeclampsia months in advance, a leading cause of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality which impacts one in 12 pregnancies in the US.

Maneesh Jain, co-founder and CEO of Mirvie, said: “This monumental effort represents a new chapter for pregnancy health.

“Today, we face a massive crisis in maternal health and innovative solutions are desperately needed. The audacious scale of this generalisable study – involving over 10,000 individuals – creates the largest and richest biobank of pregnancy transcriptomes ever to exist.”

Mirvie says it has included numerous study sites across the country, aiming to prioritise geographically and racially diverse enrollment to ensure that the study represents the communities at greatest risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes.

The company’s study includes community hospitals and direct-to-participant enrollment across 1,222 unique post codes throughout the US.

Dr Joseph Biggio, maternal-foetal medicine specialist, system chair and service line leader of Women’s Services of Ochsner Health in Louisiana and principal investigator of the study at Ochsner Health in Louisiana, said: “The geographical and racial diversity represented in our study is one of its greatest strengths.

“With pregnancy complications disproportionately affecting communities of colour, we are committed to increasing inclusion in research for individuals who have historically been underrepresented and underserved.”

Dr Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, maternal-foetal medicine specialist at UC San Diego Health and professor and chair of the department of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at University of California San Diego, added: “This study will offer a vast data set in pregnancy health – including comprehensive clinical information and paired biospecimens – that may change the way we identify those at risk, and ultimately, how we improve care for adverse pregnancy complications.”

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