Celmatix and Ferring announce genomics collaboration aimed at uncovering new insights into ovarian biology

Reviewed by Alina Shrourou, B.Sc. (Editor)Aug 30 2018

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Celmatix today announced an ambitious genomics collaboration aimed at uncovering new insights into ovarian biology and accelerating the development of personalized interventions in reproductive medicine and women's health. This collaboration will leverage both Ferring and Celmatix's significant expertise in women's reproductive health and may unlock insights that could lead to novel interventions with a broader impact on women's health.

The goal of this collaboration is to use insights from Celmatix's proprietary knowledge base to explore whether women's responses to ovarian stimulation during in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which can vary greatly, are linked to individual characteristics of their genome. These insights could help to reduce adverse and life-threatening outcomes such as ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), and lower the rates of IVF cycle cancellation due to poor treatment response.

"We already have robust evidence that a woman's anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels can predict her response to IVF and enable a more personalized approach to treatment," said Klaus Dugi, Chief Medical Officer, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. "Through this unique collaboration with Celmatix, we want to pave the way for even greater personalization of care, with the ultimate aim of improving women's experience of treatment and IVF success rates for families around the world."

"The demographic trends are clear that people are increasingly waiting until later in life to become parents. Accordingly, advanced fertility technologies like egg freezing and IVF are on the rise in the US and globally. It is more important than ever to understand how a woman's unique biology may impact her response to the treatments used for these procedures," said Piraye Yurttas Beim, Founder and CEO of Celmatix. "It's inspiring to collaborate with a forward-thinking company like Ferring that is committed to bridging this knowledge gap and bringing greater personalization to women's health."

Findings from the collaboration could potentially have an even bigger long-term impact on women's health. In addition to her fertility and reproductive health, a women's ovarian function underlies other important aspects of her health, from age of menopause to cardiovascular health, cognitive function, and risk for diseases such as cancer.