New, cost-effective, and patient friendly treatment of infertility of women

Fertility treatments often rely on hormone stimulation, an expensive and physically demanding process that represents a $10 billion global market annually. However, hormone treatment cannot be used for everyone. This project aims to improve a solution for those who cannot receive hormone treatments, by developing a breakthrough method in which eggs are retrieved and matured in the laboratory, a process known as in vitro maturation (IVM) – already widely used in other mammals.

Objective

By advancing IVM for human eggs, this innovation has the potential to drastically reduce treatment costs and expand access to fertility care for a broader population. Women who face medical or financial barriers to conventional hormone-based treatments could particularly benefit from this approach.

Each year, 80-100 women at Rigshospitalet have ovarian tissue frozen to preserve their fertility. This provides a unique opportunity to develop and refine clinical methods and commercial culture media that:

• Mimic the natural hormonal conditions within the follicle, ensuring proper egg maturation.
• Develop a standardized process that results in mature eggs capable of leading to successful pregnancies.

Potential Impact

With access to human eggs and ovarian tissue from Rigshospitalet’s fertility preservation program, this project is uniquely positioned to redefine assisted reproduction. If successful, in vitro maturation could replace conventional hormone stimulation, making fertility treatments more affordable, less invasive, and accessible to a wider patient population.

The combined expertise of Rigshospitalet (RH), the University of Copenhagen (KU), and Lund University (LU) provides exceptional opportunities to develop new fertility treatments and diagnostic methods based on this work. This initiative represents a major leap forward in reproductive medicine, bringing us closer to a future where fertility treatments are more patient-friendly, efficient, and widely accessible.