Developing the world's first at-home, clinical-grade fertility treatment

不孕不育是一个全球性的公共卫生问题，全世界有10%-25%的女性患有不孕症，英国有350万人受到影响，而且不孕不育的比例还在上升。尽管如此，英国用于生育治疗的公共资金正在减少。4%的临床调试小组(CCGs)不再提供公共资助的生育治疗。那些确实执行严格要求的人，包括截止年龄(从34岁开始)，提供有限的周期(三分之二只提供一个周期的试管受精)，以及等待时间长(从几个月到三年，在随着年龄增加的不孕不育症的背景下，非常有临床意义)。因此，在英国，大约70%的生育治疗是私人支付的。不孕不育夫妇在生育治疗上的平均花费为13,730 GB。78%的夫妇负债以资助他们的试管受精治疗，70%的夫妇经历了经济上的创伤。StepOne生育公司(交易名称为Béa Fertivity)正在努力解决难以获得和负担不起的生育护理的问题。我们肩负着重新设想生育保健的使命，确保每个人都能获得他们理应获得的支持，以创建他们的家庭。我们的目标是通过安全、临床验证和有效的治疗将临床级生育保健带到世界各地的家庭，这种治疗也是负担得起的和包容的。我们的方法基于一种名为宫颈内人工授精(ICI)的技术，该技术曾在生育诊所广泛使用。ICI使用帽子将精液浓缩到宫颈上，在原位放置4个多小时。20世纪80年代，当宫腔内人工授精(IUI)出现时，ICI失去了青睐。对于临床，IUI是一种更快、更有利可图的临床治疗选择，但ICI显示出类似的疗效。重要的是，ICI比IUI侵入性小，适合于适应家庭环境。我们正在开发一种创新的生育治疗方法，将新型ICI设备和数字健康体验结合在一起，彻底改变了家庭生育治疗方法。

Infertility is a global public health issue, experienced by 10-25% of women worldwide and affecting 3.5M people in the UK, with rates rising. Despite this, UK public funding for fertility treatment is declining. 4% of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) no longer offer publicly funded fertility treatment. Those that do implement rigid requirements including cut-off ages (starting at 34 years), offer limited numbers of cycles (two thirds only provide one cycle of IVF), and have long waiting times (from several months to 3 years, highly clinically significant in the context of rising infertility with age).Consequently, approximately 70% of fertility treatments in the UK are paid for privately. Couples with infertility spend an average of £13,730 on fertility treatment. 78% of couples go into debt to fund their IVF treatment, and 70% experience financial trauma.StepOne Fertility (trading as Béa Fertility) is working to solve the problem of inaccessible and unaffordable fertility care. We are on a mission to reimagine fertility care, making sure everyone can access the support they deserve to create their family. Our ambition is to bring clinical-grade fertility care into homes around the world with a safe, clinically validated, and effective treatment, which is also affordable and inclusive.Our approach is based on a technique called intracervical insemination (ICI), once widely available in fertility clinics. ICI concentrates semen onto the cervix using a cap, left in situ for 4+ hours. ICI fell out of favour during the 1980s when intrauterine insemination (IUI) became available. IUI is a quicker, more profitable in-clinic treatment option for clinics, yet ICI shows similar efficacy. Crucially, ICI is less invasive than IUI and suitable for adaptation to a home environment. We are developing an innovative fertility treatment that combines a novel ICI device and digital health experience, revolutionising at-home fertility treatment.