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THE FUTURE OF IN
VITRO FERTILIZATION |
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The Social Problems Facing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) |
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Each year nearly 40,000 children in the U.S. are born through
In Vitro Fertilization procedures. Unfortunately, IVF leads to
multiple births (twins, triplets, or more) born at 10 times
the natural rate. Numerous studies have shown the many health
issues associated with multiple births, even if just limited
to twins. US couples alone face nearly $600MM annually in
neonatal costs associated with IVF multiple births. |
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The Reason Behind High Multiple Birth Rates |
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source of the problem is simple: fertility clinics rely on
the transfer of multiple embryos in an attempt to raise success
outcomes. When pregnancy does occur, multiple births result in
35% of all IVF procedures. |
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key factors drive IVF clinics to continue with this practice:
high out of pocket costs for infertile couples and relatively low IVF
success outcomes. Low success outcomes are particularly common
for couples in their late 30’s. Because IVF is not typically
covered by insurance plans, infertile couples demand that
clinics use whatever means possible to achieve pregnancy. Thus,
the combination of high out-of-pocket costs and low success
probabilities leaves fertility clinics with few alternatives
other than to transfer multiple embryos for each IVF cycle. |
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Incept: Transforming the Future of IVF |
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Incept’s PinFlo platform will enable a true transformation
within IVF - bringing the first easy-to-use clinical platform
ideal for sperm isolation, non-invasive insemination with just a few sperm, in vivo-like culture
conditions, powerful nano and microscale embryo analysis, and
precise embryo cryopreservation capabilities. |
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Finally, embryologists will be able to eliminate the
conditions that can suboptimize an embryo’s success potential
throughout an IVF cycle. Even more importantly, these same
tools will also standardize and automate assays and procedures
to improve how clinics predict embryo viability and to
preserve unused embryos for later cycles. Collectively, these technologies will enable the highest potential for a successful pregnancy from a single embryo transfer and thus virtually eliminate the incidence of multiple births (twins, triplets, etc). |
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eliminating the many different points of inefficiency,
fertility specialists will now be able to assure patients with
confidence that at every point in the IVF process they have
maximized a couple’s opportunity for success. |