Share
10th July 2024
05:34pm BST
A pill for couples struggling to conceive on IVF has been discovered.
According to reports, the pill will help increase the chances of pregnancy but experts have said that further trials are required.
Scientists have stressed that more trials and research are needed before the pill is even regulated but it is 'good news' for those trying to start a family.
However, they explained that the pill can help the fertilised egg implant in the womb.
Scientists revealed the research at the annual conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction (ESHRE) in Amsterdam.
During their research, they analysed women under 40 who were using IVF or ICSI. ICSI is intracytoplasmic sperm injection, where a single sperm is injected into an egg before being implanted.
Of the women who took part, the pill helped increase live birth odds by 6.9% - 42.6% compared to participants who took the placebo at 35.7%.
Spanish biotech company Oxolife is planning on extending the study in the future.
This non-hormonal pill acts on the womb lining and helps the embryo ‘invade’ it.
Professor Dr Karen Sermon said, "A jump of nearly seven percentage points is very good news for our patients, and hopefully this can be confirmed in larger patient groups."
CEO of Oxolife, Agnes Arbat said the study provides hope as many rounds of IVF end in failure.
"A simple-to-take pill that materially improves the chance of success would therefore be of huge benefit to those who want a baby.
"This proof-of-concept phase 2 study shows that hope is now a step closer. This study was purposefully designed to include only women who used donor eggs so it could single out the true effect of OXO-001 on the endometrium."
