Category Archives: Human Reproduction

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Christine Bauquis christine@eshre.eu 32-499-258-046 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Istanbul, 2 July 2012: The state funding of fertility treatment through public reimbursement policies has a direct influence on national birth rates. Lower levels of reimbursement are correlated with higher unmet needs for treatment, while more generous reimbursement policies increase access to treatment and may even make a measurable contribution to national birth rates.

The findings come from a study reported here today at the annual meeting of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology). The results, says health economist Dr Mark Connolly from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, reflect the wide variety of reimbursement policies throughout Europe and come at a time when many national and local authorities have made plans to cut back their IVF funding as a cost-cutting initiative.(1)

Dr Connolly and colleagues quantified the reimbursement policies of 23 European countries, using an index score ranging from 0 to 18; the higher index scores indicated fuller state funding/reimbursement for treatment. The countries with the most generous funding policies were Belgium, France and Slovenia (with scores between 14 and 18); those with the least generous were the UK, Russia and Ireland (all with scores under 3).

These index scores were then correlated with treatment practice and outcomes in each of the 23 countries. Results first showed a significant relationship between the level of reimbursement and the annual contribution of assisted reproduction (ART) births to national birth numbers. " This finding," said Dr Connolly, "has important policy implications for national authorities concerned about ageing populations and interested in policies for influencing national birth rates. Although the influence on birth rates is small, the relationship is positive and provides an opportunity to compare with other policies implemented by local and national governments to influence birth rates."(2)

Results also showed that in countries with higher levels of reimbursement a higher volume of ART cycles is performed. For example, ESHRE monitoring data for 2008 showed that more ART cycles per million population were performed in Belgium and Denmark (2479 and 2450 ART cycles per million population in 2008) than in Germany, Italy and UK (801, 807 and 825 cycles). "If one considers medical need is similar across countries," said Dr Connolly, "then the data here suggest a great unmet need in those countries with limited reimbursement."

However, the study did not show any significant relationship between reimbursement policies and access to care for women of different age groups. This would suggest, said Dr Connolly, that there is no oversupply of treatment in countries with generous state funding. "This is a welcome finding," he added, "because it suggests treatment is based on medical need and not simply on the availability and accessibility of reimbursed treatment."

While the study did not find correlations between reimbursement and patient age (or deliveries per cycle, or multiple embryo transfers), there was a trend towards more singleton deliveries in countries with higher levels of reimbursement, suggesting that results in poorly reimbursed countries are more dependent on a single cycle of treatment than on single embryo transfers in cumulative cycles.

The authors of the study hope that health ministries at this difficult economic time consider the broader implications of access to fertility care and the cost consequences of not funding. As shown by this study, limited funding for ART will result in fewer children being born each year and inequitable access to treatment.

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Higher levels of public reimbursement positively influence national birth rates and reduce unmet needs in subfertile ...

In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) has given the world about five million new people since the first test tube baby was born in England 34 years ago.

AS the initial controversy over man's scientific manipulation of nature has faded, about 350,000 babies conceived in petri dishes are now born every year, the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) said on Monday.

That represents about 0.3 per cent of the 130-million babies added to the world population annually.

"Millions of families with children have been created, thereby reducing the burden of infertility," said David Adamson, chairman of the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART).

IVF, which involves placing an egg and sperm together in a petri dish for conception, and a sub-category known as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) where the sperm is inserted with a micro-needle directly into the egg, have become commonplace.

But it has proven controversial over the years, with some fearing it paved the way for so-called designer babies whose characteristics are chosen by parents.

The Vatican considers it immoral because of the wastage of a large number of embryos, and the procedure has been criticised for allowing women to have children until a much older age.

The five million milestone "justifies all the legal and moral battles, the ethical debates and hard-fought social approval," said Simon Fishel, a member of the team that helped conceive the world's first IVF baby, Louise Brown, born in 1978.

The birth estimate was done by ICMART for the 28th annual meeting of ESHRE which opened in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday.

It is based on the number of IVF and ICSI treatments recorded worldwide up to 2008, and estimates for the years thereafter for which confirmed figures are not yet available.

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World has 5 million test tube people

Public release date: 1-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Christine Bauquis christine@eshre.eu 32-499-258-046 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Istanbul, 1 July 2012: The number of babies born as a result of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) has reached an estimated total of 5 million since the world's first, Louise Brown, was born in July 1978. The figures will be presented this week at the 28th annual meeting of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology), which begins today, 1st July, in Istanbul, Turkey.

The calculation was made for a presentation at the congress from ICMART (International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies) and was based on the number of IVF and ICSI treatment cycles recorded worldwide up to 2008 with estimations added for the following three years. The cumulative total of births was put at 4.6 million last year, and this year has now reached an approximate total of 5 million.

Commenting on this remarkable milestone, Dr David Adamson, from Fertility Physicians of Northern California, USA, and Chairman of ICMART, said: "It means that this technology has been highly successful in treating infertile patients. Millions of families with children have been created, thereby reducing the burden of infertility.

"The technology has improved greatly over the years to increase pregnancy rates. The babies are as healthy as those from other infertile patients who conceive spontaneously. The technology is available globally in many different cultures. The major barriers to access are economic, and societal in some situations. With these accomplishments as a technology, and with recognition of Professor Robert Edwards as a Nobel Laureate, IVF is firmly established now in the mainstream of medicine."

Other ICMART data indicate that around 1.5 million ART cycles are now performed globally each year, producing around 350,000 babies. This number continues to rise. The two most active countries of the world are the USA and Japan, but the most active region by far is Europe.

The picture in Europe

The latest European data to be presented at the ESHRE congress are for 2009, and show that demand for treatment - as expressed in treatment cycles performed in European countries - continues to grow, from 532,260 in 2008 to 537,287 in 2009.

The average availability of ART in Europe is close to 1000 cycles/million inhabitants, but this figure varies greatly between countries and is largely dependent on local state funding policies. Availability in Europe is greater than in the USA but less than in Australia.

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The world's number of IVF and ICSI babies has now reached a calculated total of 5 million

BEVERLY, MA and TORONTO--(Marketwire -06/29/12)- Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (HTL.V), a leading provider of precision laser devices and advanced image analysis systems for the fertility, stem cell and developmental biology research markets, today announced that the Company will be showcasing two of its premier clinical products at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) taking place in Istanbul, Turkey from July 1-4, 2012. Hamilton Thorne will be demonstrating its new IMSI-Strict imaging and analysis software and the FDA cleared and CE marked Multi-Pulse software at the Company's ESHRE booth # B19.

During the conference, Hamilton Thorne will announce the official commercial launch of its much anticipated IMSI-Strict imaging and analysis software. IMSI-Strict is the only automated software solution for live sperm morphology analysis under high magnification. IMSI-Strict combines Tygerberg Strict Criteria with motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) and provides software-based categorization using head size, head shape, mid-piece, and number of vacuoles. Using these analyzed parameters, sperm are assigned to one of three easy-to-determine categories: normal, sub-normal or abnormal.

Benefits of IMSI-Strict Software:

The Company will also highlight its Multi-Pulse software that recently received FDA clearance and a CE mark for performing embryo biopsy in clinical settings. The Multi-Pulse software comes standard with Hamilton Thorne's LYKOS clinical laser system, and provides rapid, repeated firing of the laser to facilitate removal of cells from an embryo during the trophectoderm biopsy process. Trophectoderm biopsy is considered one of the best methods used to remove cells from the embryos of patients undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to screen for genetic disease or aneuploidy. The significant advantage of Multi-Pulse is that one press of the remote footswitch initiates multiple laser pulses in rapid succession for fast and easy cell separation, thereby limiting the amount of time the embryo spends outside the incubator.

"We are proud to officially launch the commercial availability of our IMSI Strict image and analysis system, the Company's best-in-class sperm morphology analysis product, as well as showcase our new Multi-Pulse software during this renowned fertility conference," said David Wolf, President and Chief Executive Office of Hamilton Thorne, Ltd. "With both Hamilton Thorne products on the market, we are providing clinicians with advanced and precise tools to dramatically increase successful fertility outcomes and enable important clinical procedures such as embryo biopsy."

Currently available in Europe for clinical procedures, IMSI-Strict is only available in the United States for research use, and not to be used for diagnostic purposes. In addition to IMSI-Strict and Multi-Pulse, Hamilton Thorne will be displaying the entire clinical laser product line at ESHRE, including our new LYKOS laser system. To view Hamilton Thorne's premier fertility products that will be on display at ESHRE, please click on this link for a highlights video: http://youtu.be/JqsQCIk8osA.

About Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (www.hamiltonthorne.com)

Hamilton Thorne designs, manufactures and distributes precision laser devices and advanced imaging systems for the fertility, stem cell and development biology research markets. It provides novel solutions for Life Science that reduce cost, increase productivity, improve results and enable research breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, stem cell research and fertility markets. Hamilton Thorne's laser products attach to standard inverted microscopes and operate as robotic micro-surgeons, enabling a wide array of scientific applications and IVF procedures. Its imaging systems improve outcomes in human IVF clinics and animal breeding facilities and provide high-end toxicology analyses.

Hamilton Thorne's growing customer base includes pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, fertility clinics, university research centers, and other commercial and academic research establishments worldwide. Current customers include world-leading research labs such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, McGill, DuPont, Monsanto, Charles River Labs, Jackson Labs, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Oxford and Cambridge.

Neither the Toronto Venture Exchange, nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the exchange), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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Hamilton Thorne Showcases Two New Products for Fertility Clinics at ESHRE 2012

(GENEVA) - The European Union will lead calls for the appointment of a UN human rights investigator to Belarus in the wake of a report condemning serious violations there.

The UN Human Rights Council will discuss on Wednesday a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which says the situation there has "significantly deteriorated" since the 2010 presidential election when a crackdown on protesters and opposition saw hundreds detained.

The EU, supported by the United States, will on Thursday lodge a resolution requesting the assignment of a special rapporteur.

The council's 47 members are then expected to vote on the issue at the end of its current sitting, on either July 5 or 6.

The UN rights body previously appointed a special rapporteur in 2004 but the mandate was discontinued in 2007 at the request of the government.

In June last year the council adopted a resolution condemning rights violations before and after the presidential election.

US ambassador to the council Eileen Donahoe said there was a need to step up action against the government of Alexander Lukashenko amid its continued lack of cooperation with the OHCHR and "the further degradation" of the rights situation.

"The United States believes the next step should be the creation of a Special Rapporteur to continue to investigate and put a spotlight on the situation in Belarus," the ambassador told reporters in Geneva last week.

In its latest report covering December 2010 to March this year, the OHCHR highlighted allegations of the torture of detainees and pressure on defence lawyers.

"Since the election, the human rights situation has further deteriorated, particularly the rights to freedoms of association, assembly and expression, and the right to a fair trial," it said.

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EU wants UN rights probe in Belarus

Grand Rapids Medical Mile, which includes the new Michigan State University College of Human Medicine complex. Matt Roush photo

GRAND RAPIDS The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and Grand Valley State University have agreed to establish a cooperative program of premedical and medical education by which Grand Rapids Community College students who transfer as undergraduate premedical students to GVSU will have the opportunity to be granted an early assurance of admission to MSUs med school.

The Early Assurance Program became official at an agreement signing ceremony held Monday at GRCC.

Gilda Gely, GRCC provost; Gayle R. Davis, GVSU provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; Kim Wilcox, MSU provost; and Marsha D. Rappley, dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine, were joined by other school administrators at the signing.

The EAP will provide an enhanced opportunity for admission to medical school for GRCC students transferring to GVSU as pre-medical students who are interested in serving traditionally underserved populations. These students will receive academic advising directed at admission to MSU College of Human Medicine, and will be enrolled in a program of enriching clinical and service experiences in preparation for admission.

Under the agreement, MSU College of Human Medicine is increasing the number of EAP seats it reserves at the medical school for GVSU from five seats to six seats, in order to include an opportunity for students that have transferred from GRCC to GVSU as pre-med students. According to MSU administrators, in the fall of 2011 they received more than 6,250 applicants for the 200 seats available for first-year students. In addition to GRCC and GVSU, 11 other colleges and universities, including Michigan State University, participate with the EAP. GRCC is the first community college to be part of an Early Assurance Program agreement.

Preference for EAP admission will be given to those former GRCC students who now apply as a GVSU student and may not otherwise be familiar with what goes into preparing for premedical and medical school application processes.

These students must also meet one or more of the following criteria: are a first generation college student graduate from an underserved high school as defined by the U.S. Dept. of Education are eligible for or a recipient of an undergraduate Pell or institutional need-based grant graduate from an underserved (health professional shortage) urban or rural area demonstrate interest in a high need medical specialty area

Nick Monsma, a senior at GVSU, attended the signing. He will be the first student to enroll in the program. Monsma, a Grand Rapids native, attended GRCC then transferred to Grand Valley. He was admitted to the MSU CHM in the spring and will begin classes in the fall of 2013.

I think this is an amazing opportunity; Im looking forward to going to school at Michigan State, Monsma, a biomedical sciences major, said.

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Partnership Provides Enhanced Opportunity For MSU Medical School