Gameto

Today marks World IVF Day, 46 years since the birth of the world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, a groundbreaking achievement that changed the landscape of fertility treatment forever. Since then, it is estimated that over 10 million babies have been born through IVF around the world. IVF is still drastically underutilized, even in a time of increasing infertility rates. Economists cited in the Wall Street Journal believe that the global fertility rate will drop below the population replacement rate very soon if it hasn’t already and predict there will be serious economic, social, and geopolitical consequences if no intervention. In the United States, a shocking 20% of couples reportedly experience infertility; however, only ~4% of couples experiencing infertility actually utilize IVF. While we have made significant progress, there is still a long way to go. At Gameto, we believe that innovations like our product candidate Fertilo are needed to increase access to IVF and egg freezing treatments and improve the patient experience.

Interesting article in The Information featuring Gameto that discusses recent advancements in the fertility tech space and its increasing appeal to VC investors for both financial and personal reasons. Our investor Jack Abraham is mentioned in the article, discussing the personal ties behind his recent investments into fertility tech like Gameto and Orchid. The Information’s Julia Black sat down with our CEO and Co-founder Dina Radenkovic to discuss what Gameto is doing to improve the IVF and egg freezing processes, that are currently brutal, expensive, long and medicalized. They discussed how Gameto’s product candidate, Fertilo, made from ovarian support cells (OSCs) can reduce the hormone injection protocol from two weeks to three days, by mimicking ovarian function outside of the body. Dina said: “We want Gameto to be that science-backed company that thinks about safety and efficacy, but also about the female patient experience.” Thank you to Julia and Margaux for a great conversation and feature! Check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e9uz4PuK

Gameto’s Latin America Medical Director, Dr. Carlos Lejtik, will be attending the 60th Mexican Congress of Reproductive Medicine next week in Cancún, Mexico. This is a great chance to learn more about our product candidate Fertilo, an innovative, cell-based approach to in vitro maturation (IVM) that is made of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived ovarian support cells (OSCs), and discuss potential opportunities for partnering with us in Latin America. Reach out to Carlos Andres Lejtik Alva on either LinkedIn or at [email protected] if you are interested in setting up a meeting. We look forward to seeing you there!

As #ISSCR2024 comes to an end, we would like to thank the International Society for Stem Cell Research for another great conference. It was wonderful to get the chance to learn from the brightest minds in stem cell research and hear about all of the amazing work our colleagues are doing to drive forward innovation in the space. We were honored to present our poster, ‘Reproducible and Scalable Differentiation of Ovarian Support Cells from a Clinical-Grade hiPSC Line to be Applied as a Novel in vitro Maturation Strategy for Infertility Treatment,’ that details how Gameto differentiates our ovarian support cells (OSCs) from our donor hiPSC line to create our product candidate, Fertilo. The results presented also showed that OSCs improve both maturation rate and euploid blastocyst formation rate compared to standard of care in vitro maturation (IVM). Thank you again to ISSCR for another great conference! For more information, see this recap of the research we presented: https://lnkd.in/eDhTdidd

That's a wrap on #ESHRE2024! Thank you, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), for organizing another successful meeting and the opportunity to discuss cutting-edge research in reproductive health, embryology, and the broader fertility field. We were excited to be able to present our poster on the underlying mechanism of our ovarian support cells (OSCs), and how our data shows that crosstalk between OSCs and immature oocytes (eggs), may contribute to an improved in vitro environment that helps oocytes mature as they would in the body and meet with collaborators, clinicians and innovators across the world at our Gameto booth. In case you missed it, we published a brief overview of the research we presented: https://lnkd.in/eXvmbqws

The Gameto team is excited to share the release of our video publication, “Clinical Procedures for in vitro Maturation Treatment,” published in Fertility & Sterility, and filmed in collaboration with global IVM experts from CCRM Fertility, Brussels IVF, UNSW, and American Society for Reproductive Medicine - ASRM IVM Special Interest Group. The video’s aim is to demonstrate clinical techniques for in vitro maturation (IVM) treatment, in order to provide educational content surrounding IVM and bring awareness to its benefits. As discussed in the video, IVM is the process of maturing oocytes, or eggs, outside of the body. The benefits of IVM include a reduction in the amount of hormones that are used for stimulation and shortening of the overall stimulation period, which is known to decrease the overall side effects and eliminate the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in patients. Gameto’s product candidate, Fertilo, is a cell-based approach to IVM that is made of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived ovarian support cells (OSCs). Interested in learning more about IVM? We also have an “Ask the Experts” video where you can hear from Ye Yuan, Robert Gilchrist, Michel De Vos, and Christian Kramme, PhD speak about the benefits of IVM and a minimal stimulation protocol: https://lnkd.in/eHv8wCmZ Thank you to the amazing team who played a role in the creation of these videos! Check out the full publication here: https://lnkd.in/eZnZ4Scs

The Gameto team is at European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE)! Come say hello at our booth in Hall 11, number 11.005 and learn more about Fertilo for truncated IVF. To find out more, watch how a minimal stimulation retrieval is done in our recently released video publication in Fertility & Sterility as a result of our collaboration with leading IVM experts and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine - ASRM. The video uses live-action footage from surgery and embryology practice for a representative IVM treatment cycle and includes instructions and recommendations. Thank you to the team behind the making of this video: Michel De Vos, Ingrid Segers, Ye Yuan, Robert Gilchrist, Christian Kramme, PhD, Brussels IVF, CCRM Fertility, UNSW and Nina Films. https://lnkd.in/eZnZ4Scs

The Gameto team is at European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE)! Come say hello at our booth in Hall 11, number 11.005 and learn more about Fertilo for truncated IVF. To find out more, watch how a minimal stimulation retrieval is done in our recently released video publication in Fertility & Sterility as a result of our collaboration with leading IVM experts and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine - ASRM. The video uses live-action footage from surgery and embryology practice for a representative IVM treatment cycle and includes instructions and recommendations. Thank you to the team behind the making of this video: Michel De Vos, Ingrid Segers, Ye Yuan, Robert Gilchrist, Christian Kramme, PhD, Brussels IVF, CCRM Fertility, UNSW and Nina Films. https://lnkd.in/eZnZ4Scs

As we near the end of June and wrap up this year’s Pride Month, it is important to acknowledge the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQAI community as it pertains to the current assisted reproductive technology (ART) landscape. For many LGBTQAI individuals and couples, the path to parenthood is often fraught with barriers, including legal restrictions, lack of access to fertility treatments, and societal stigmas. Although the LGBTQAI population is 12x more likely to use fertility treatments, the barrier to access these services can oftentimes be prohibitive. ➡ While insurance companies in more than a dozen states offer no-cost fertility treatments for straight couples, they often refuse to cover those same services for LGBTQAI couples until they’ve paid out of pocket for up to a year, and there are only 3 states that have fertility insurance laws that inclusively cover LGBTQAI couples. ➡ A survey conducted by the Family Equality Council in 2020 found that 63% of LGBTQAI people who are planning families expect to use assisted reproductive technology, foster care, or adoption to become parents. Yet, 40% of these individuals anticipate difficulty in accessing these services due to financial barriers. At Gameto, we believe that innovations that help improve access to IVF for all people are imperative to promoting equality across the board. We are proud to have a team of brilliant scientists who have dedicated their lives to develop cutting-edge technology that will improve access to ART for both individuals and couples who wish to build their families, no matter what they may look like. Gameto’s dedicated team includes both LGBTQAI individuals and allies and recognizes that innovations in the reproductive technology space will be essential to ensure that LGBTQAI individuals and couples are given the same opportunities to build families.

The Gameto team will be participating in the 2024 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Conference in Hamburg, Germany next month! We will be presenting a poster, ‘Reproducible and Scalable Differentiation of Ovarian Support Cells from a Clinical-Grade hiPSC Line to be Applied as a Novel in vitro Maturation Strategy for Infertility Treatment,’ which will be displayed in the event’s exhibit and poster hall. Our poster is #125 and the poster presentation will take place during poster session 1, from 5:45 to 6:45pm local time. We would love to meet with you– please send all meeting requests to [email protected]. Looking forward to seeing you there! Bruna Paulsen, PhD, Christian Kramme, PhD