Corporate

Press conference on ART: green light in Italy for the new menotropin formulation

DSC0781211

With an increasingly wider appeal, infertility emerges as a global challenge, affecting 17.5% of the adult population globally, which equates to approximately one in six people. In Italy, the proportion stands at around 15%. If we add to this the constant contraction in birth rates that we are witnessing and the increasing delay in the average age at first pregnancy, the picture gets even more complicated.

These data – which emerged during the press conference that IBSA held today in Milan – highlight the urgent need to make Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) procedures more accessible and to ensure high quality treatments to those who need them. According to recent estimates, from 2012 to 2022 there was a 73% increase in the use of ART techniques, with as many as 3.7 births out of 100 achieved with assisted procreation. In particular, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) the transfer of embryos into the uterus – is confirmed as the most commonly used technique (from 37% to 48% over ten years).

If the introduction of ART in the “Essential Levels of Assistance” (LEA, Livelli Essenziali di Assistenza) marks an important step forward to ensure equal access to these procedures for all couples with fertility problems, the postponement to January 2025 of the implementation of the new LEAs for several healthcare services is particularly significant in the reproductive medicine area, where the time factor plays a crucial role on the probability of success of treatments, at least for those couples who are approaching these paths already at an advanced age. Indeed, age represents a crucial factor for fertility, and therefore also for the success of ART procedures, starting with ovarian stimulation.

There are numerous factors capable of affecting the ovarian response to stimulation and influencing the outcome of treatments. In addition to the woman’s age, it is necessary to consider her ovarian reserve (i.e. the number of still immature follicles present in the ovaries); the woman’s body mass index; her response to previous cycles of ovarian stimulation; as well as the cause and duration of infertility.

Se l’introduzione della PMA nei Livelli Essenziali di Assistenza (LEA) segna un passo avanti importante per garantire l'accesso equo a queste procedure a tutte le coppie con problemi di fertilità, lo slittamento dell’attuazione dei nuovi LEA per diverse prestazioni sanitarie a gennaio 2025 pesa in particolare nell’ambito della medicina della riproduzione dove il fattore tempo gioca un ruolo cruciale sulla probabilità di successo dei trattamenti, almeno per quelle coppie che si avvicinano a questi percorsi già in età avanzata. L'età rappresenta, infatti, un fattore cruciale per la fertilità e di conseguenza anche per il successo delle procedure di PMA, a partire dalla stimolazione ovarica.

Numerosi sono i fattori in grado di influenzare la risposta ovarica alla stimolazione e di condizionare l'esito dei trattamenti. Oltre all'età della donna, occorre considerare la sua riserva ovarica, ossia il numero di follicoli ancora immaturi presenti nelle ovaie, l'indice di massa corporea della donna, la sua risposta a cicli precedenti di stimolazione ovarica, così come la causa e la durata dell'infertilità.

DSC01

Thanks to scientific advances, today we can count on several treatment options that allow to personalise the approach to ovarian stimulation, by selecting the most suitable therapeutic protocol for each patient. This increases the likelihood of pregnancy, while minimising the risks of these treatments.

A new formulation of menotropin – now available in Italy – based on the specific individual needs of the patients.

Tiziano Fossati, Head of Pharmaceutical Research and Development at IBSA, thus summarises the company’s commitment in this area: “Thanks to its long-standing experience in the field of reproductive medicine, IBSA has generated a very solid scientific and technological know-how. Our research and development philosophy is based on listening carefully to patients, in order to offer treatments in the best possible form”.

Read here the press release.

Conferenza Stampa PMA, 9 Aprile 2024