Highly purified menotrophins are as effective as recombinant treatments for IVF.

2002 AUG 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A wealth of evidence confirms that there is no difference in pregnancy rates when comparing highly purified menotrophin (hMG) with recombinant FSH (rFSH), yet significant differences exist in cost.

This information is particularly relevant as health authorities are increasingly requiring that physicians practice evidence-based medicine as well cost effectiveness.

During the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology, researchers will present numerous studies in support of the use of human-derived products and away from the more expensive recombinant treatments because of equality in efficacy.

Vinay Sharma of the Reproductive Medicine Unit at St. James's Hospital in Leeds, U.K., made a comparison of urinary and recombinant gonadotrophins after an audit of 8 years of her clinical practice, found that patients receiving hMG had a significantly higher probability of achieving a clinical pregnancy per cycle.

She also found that hMG patients were 2.02 and uFSH were 1.80 times more likely to have live birth compared with rFSH in fresh IVF cycles and clinical pregnancy rate in ICSI cycles was significantly higher in hMG and uFSH compared with rFSH.

"This is the first time where the clinical practice of a single program in consecutive cycles has shown a significant difference in live birth rates per cycle," said Sharma. "Especially when patients have made the choice with regards to the type of gonadotrophin based on cost, effectiveness and route of administration."

Marco Filicori, of the ...