A trial of a new fertility drug has shown promising results, indicating it could improve embryo implantation rates during IVF and lead to a 7% increase in live births.
The pill, known as OXO-001, is designed to enhance the receptivity of the womb lining to embryo implantation. These findings offer new hope for patients who have faced repeated implantation failures during successive IVF rounds.
“We are thrilled with the results of this trial, which highlight OXO-001’s potential to become the first therapeutic treatment to increase embryo implantation success. This non-hormonal drug uses a new mechanism of action, acting directly on the endometrium,” said Dr. Ignasi Canals, chief scientific officer at Oxolife, the Spanish biotech company behind the trial. The findings will be presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology’s 40th annual meeting in Amsterdam on Monday.
Success rates in IVF have steadily improved thanks to advancements in egg collection, embryo cultivation, and the selection of embryos most likely to result in successful pregnancies. However, ensuring the pregnancy progresses post-embryo transfer has seen less progress.
Implantation, a crucial milestone in pregnancy, involves a complex sequence of signaling between the embryo and the womb lining. Oxolife has not disclosed the exact mechanism of OXO-001 but stated that it “enables the expression of key molecules that allow the embryo to stop rolling [across the womb’s surface], to invade and complete implantation.”
The latest study, conducted across 28 centers in Europe, involved 96 women aged up to 40 who underwent a single embryo transfer during fertility treatment. The randomized, double-blind trial had 42 women receiving a placebo and 54 receiving a daily dose of OXO-001. Treatment began one menstrual cycle before embryo transfer and continued until five weeks afterward.
Women taking OXO-001 showed significantly higher rates of biochemical pregnancy compared to the placebo group (76% vs. 52%). The benefits persisted with higher rates of detected heartbeats at 10 weeks (46% for OXO-001 vs. 36% for placebo) and live birth rates (43% vs. 36%).
The drug did not appear to have negative side effects, and six-month follow-ups showed healthy development in the babies, with no differences compared to the placebo group.
Prof. Richard Anderson, head of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the trial, praised the results. “It’s very meaningful to get a 7% difference in live birth rate with a simple oral medication,” he said. “It looks very exciting and raises the question of whether it would help natural conception.”
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