A pill for couples having difficulty conceiving through IVF has been found to increase the chances of pregnancy.
In clinical trials, it has been found to increase the likelihood that a fertilized egg will implant in the uterus.
While the pill requires further trials and regulatory approval before it can be made available, scientists said the results were “very good news” for childless couples.
With an IVF cycle costing between £5,000 and £10,000 privately, reducing the number of cycles could mean more couples achieve their dream of parenthood.
It could also potentially reduce the NHS bill, which provides a limited amount of IVF for infertile couples, although this varies from area to area.
The study looked at women under 40 using IVF or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), a technique similar to IVF in which a single sperm is injected into an egg before it is implanted.
A pill for couples struggling to conceive through IVF has been found to increase the chances of pregnancy (file photo)
The new pill increased the chances of a live birth by 6.9 percent: 42.6 percent of women in the trial gave birth, compared with 35.7 percent of those taking a placebo.
The pill was unveiled at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction (ESHRE) in Amsterdam.
Donor eggs were used to test the pill, called OXO-001, as there is thought to be less variation in the quality of donor eggs compared to eggs from women themselves.
Spanish biotechnology company Oxolife is planning a larger study in women using their own eggs.
Most fertility treatments use a woman’s own eggs. In 2019, 86 percent of IVF cycles used a woman’s own eggs and her partner’s sperm, according to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority.
The new pill is non-hormonal and acts on the lining of the uterus to help the embryo “invade” it, according to Oxolife.
While the pill requires further trials and regulatory approval before it can be made available, scientists said the results were “very good news” for childless couples (file photo)
ESHRE director Professor Dr Karen Sermon, who was not involved in the research, said: “An increase of almost seven percentage points is very good news for our patients and we hope this can be confirmed in larger patient groups.”
Agnes Arbat, chief executive of Oxolife, said: “Most IVF or ICSI treatments still fail, often because the viable embryo does not implant. Therefore, an easy-to-take pill that substantially improves the chances of success would be of great help to those who want to have a baby.”
‘This proof-of-concept phase 2 study shows that hope is now one step closer.’
She added: ‘This study was deliberately designed to include only women using donor eggs so that the true effect of OXO-001 on the endometrium could be identified.
However, we believe that OXO-001 has the potential to work just as well in those using their own eggs, and we are already planning a pivotal phase three clinical trial.