Eurobio Scientific partners with Dr. Nino Guy Cassuto
for the development of a new PCR test for male fertility
- Accelerating the extension of the proprietary portfolio of routine tests in molecular biology.
- First test for accurate and rapid quantification of genetic markers of spermatozoa linked to infertility.
- Molecular biology test deployable routinely in public and private biology laboratories, refining the diagnosis of male infertility in addition to sperm parameters.
Paris, April 26, 2022 – 5:45 pm
Eurobio Scientific (FR0013240934, ALERS), a leading French group in specialty in vitro medical diagnostics, announces today that it entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Doctor Nino Guy Cassuto for the development, manufacturing and marketing of a new test in relation with his patents related to a new method for selecting spermatozoa, in particular for medically assisted reproduction (ART).
Development of a new proprietary test
In this context, Eurobio Scientific, with its know-how in molecular biology, will undertake the development, validation and marketing of a test for the quantification by qRT-PCR1 of genetic markers identified by Dr. Cassuto for the screening of patients at risk of infertility. This test, which will complement routinely measured sperm parameters, will give a more precise approach in the exploration of male fertility.
This new molecular biology test, designed and developed by Eurobio Scientific R&D, will be produced in-house at its premises in Les Ulis, France, and should be available during the second half of 2022 in its RUO version for hospital and private laboratories, both in France and internationally.
A new strategy for the management of male infertility
The causes of male infertility are diverse and can have their origin in a mechanical or hormonal dysfunction or in connection with sperm abnormalities. These can affect the number, motility and shape of spermatozoa. Dr. Cassuto did a lot of research and wrote numerous publications within this medical field, through his specialized practice in the Drouot laboratory in Paris, leading to significant advances in the understanding of the link between the quality of sperm DNA and male infertility. He thus highlighted the potential role of several genes which lack of expression is correlated with alterations in the morphology of spermatozoa, and which can impact early embryonic development in ART, in partially fertile or even infertile patients.2
A test allowing the quantification of the expression of these markers would facilitate the selection of spermatozoa used in the context of in vitro fertilization (IVF) by injection of the spermatozoa into the oocyte (ICSI), therefore reducing the risk of failures. It would be part of a new strategy for better care of applicants for ART, while promoting cost control.
A growing market
In general, the global market for assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is growing every year at the global level. With an average growth of around 10% per year, it is expected to reach $45 billion in 20253, with just over 11% growth for IVF4.
Currently, approximately 62,000 IVF and 50,000 inseminations are performed each year in France. In addition to these ART acts, there are a number of preparatory medical acts which result in the performance of around 370,000 sperm parameters assessments per year5, which would translate, on a European level, into an overall potential of around 2 million analyzes per year that could be supplemented by the added value provided by a new PCR test.
The development of this new test by Eurobio Scientific is therefore part of the standardization of practices related to assisted reproduction, standardization made necessary by the continuous growth in the number of medical acts.
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1 The "Polymerase Chain Reaction" (PCR) is a method based on the selective multiplication of target DNA sequences, which makes it possible to detect specific DNA sequences present in a product. qRT-PCR is a real-time quantitative PCR.
2 Cassuto, Piquemal, Boitrelle, & Al “Molecular Profiling of Spermatozoa Reveals Correlations between Morphology and Gene Expression: A Novel Biomarker Panel for Male Infertility”, BioMed Research International, September 2021.
3 Source : Grand View Research 2018
4 Source : Frost & Sullivan 2019
5 Source : AMELI 2022
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