In vitro maturation solution could help women ‘navigate’ fertility treatment

An investigational in vitro maturation solution could help women “navigate” fertility treatment and avoid side effects associated with the conventional IVF hormone protocol, a new study has found.

Patient experience data, published by the US biotech start-up Gameto, has shown that the company’s investigational in vitro maturation solution combined with minimal hormonal stimulation was well tolerated and had higher patient satisfaction rates than conventional fertility stimulation.

The findings were based on a study evaluating how minimal controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) in combination with Gameto’s in vitro maturation solution, which contains engineered ovarian support cells (OSC-IVM) to mature eggs outside of the body, affected patients’ egg retrieval experiences when compared to conventional stimulation.

The data analysis found that women undergoing minimal hormonal stimulation for OSC-IVM reported experiencing few side effects, lower levels of pain after retrieval and higher satisfaction levels with the shortened stimulation procedure, compared to conventional stimulation for IVF.

Dr Dina Radenkovic, co-founder and chief executive officer of Gameto, said: “This study is significant because female patients’ pain, morbidity and inconvenience are frequently minimised and neglected in the healthcare setting, and often more so for women pursuing fertility treatments and egg or embryo freezing.

“We are encouraged by these and previously published efficacy data which demonstrate that combining minimal hormonal stimulation with our investigational in vitro maturation solution may help women navigating fertility treatments avoid many of the common side effects associated with the conventional IVF hormone protocol.

“We care about the efficacy but also about the experience,” she added.

Fertilo, Gameto’s lead investigational programme, is a solution derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and designed to mature eggs outside of the body as part of minimal hormonal stimulation cycles for IVF and egg freezing. It is cleared for commercialisation in Australia and in large markets in Latin America.

The company’s goal in developing Fertilo is to make fertility treatments more convenient, safer and accessible for a wider patient population.

In the retrospective survey study, the minimal stimulation OSC-IVM cycles were associated with significant reductions in reported side effects and levels of pain.

The data analysis found that severe pain was reported by 38 per cent of patients undergoing conventional COS compared to seven per cent of participants in the minimal stimulation OSC-IVM cohort.

According to Gameto, the majority of women in the minimal stimulation OSC-IVM cohort did not experience common IVF side effects, with 86 per cent reporting no breast swelling, 76 per cent reporting having no pelvic or abdominal pain, 96 per cent reporting having no nausea or vomiting and 96 per cent reporting having no bleeding.

Approximately one-third of patients undergoing conventional COS experience ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a painful and potentially dangerous response to the conventional stimulation protocol, with one to five percent of cases requiring hospitalisation.

The participants in this analysis who underwent minimal ovarian stimulation cycles followed by OSC-IVM, however, yielded no incidence of OHSS.

Furthermore, in patients who went through both cycles, 92 per cent expressed they would repeat the minimal stimulation followed by OSC-IVM cycle, relative to 77 per cent in conventional stimulation with IVF.