Merck, a leading science and technology company, has launched two innovative fertility technologies to improve key steps of assisted reproductive treatment (ART), an area where laboratory technologies play a vital role for treatment success. Gavi oocyte protoco enables clinics to preserve human egg cells, also called oocytes, and embryos at the main stages of ART, while Geri medium supports undisturbed cultivation of embryos.
Preserving oocytes or embryos for future in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfers by cooling them to deep sub-zero degrees is a key step in the laboratory. Gavi is the world’s first automated instrument for this preservation technique, also called vitrification, and provides clinicians with added flexibility when taking important treatment decisions with and for their patients.
Geri medium was developed to help improve another critical factor for successful treatment, embryo cultivation. After fertilisation, the embryo needs to grow and develop before it is transferred into a woman’s womb. With the single-step culture medium, Merck provides a way to support undisturbed incubation and optimal embryo development.
Both products, developed and manufactured by Australian fertility technologies company, Genea Biomedx, will be available in Europe, with Gavi also launching in Canada and additional regions to follow soon. They are commercialised as part of the partnership between Merck and Genea Biomedx that started in 2015.
'Undergoing fertility treatment means looking at a lot of individual variables to ensure that everything is done for a successful outcome,' says Rehan Verjee, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Merck’s biopharma business. 'With our two new products, we provide laboratories with important instruments that support fertility treatment tailored to the clinic and to the individual needs of patients.'
