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

不孕症是一个全球性的公共卫生问题，全球10-25%的女性都有过不孕症的经历，英国有350万人受到不孕症的影响，而且不孕症的发病率还在上升。尽管如此，英国用于生育治疗的公共资金正在下降。4%的临床调试组（CCG）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），提供有限的周期数（三分之二只提供一个周期的IVF），并且等待时间长（从几个月到3年，在随着年龄增长不孕症的背景下具有高度临床意义）。因此，英国大约70%的生育治疗是私人支付的。患有不孕症的夫妇平均花费13，730英镑用于生育治疗。78%的夫妇为了支付试管婴儿治疗费用而负债，70%的夫妇经历了经济创伤。StepOne Fertility（交易名称为Béa Fertility）致力于解决无法获得和负担不起的生育护理问题。我们的使命是重新构想生育护理，确保每个人都能获得他们应得的支持，以创建自己的家庭。我们的目标是将临床级的生育护理带入世界各地的家庭，提供安全、经临床验证和有效的治疗，同时价格合理且具有包容性。我们的方法基于一种称为脑内授精（ICI）的技术，该技术曾在生育诊所广泛使用。ICI使用帽将精液浓缩到宫颈上，在原位放置4小时以上。在20世纪80年代，当子宫内授精（IUI）成为可能时，ICI失宠。IUI是一种更快、更有利可图的诊所内治疗选择，但ICI显示出类似的疗效。最重要的是，ICI比IUI侵入性更小，适合适应家庭环境。我们正在开发一种创新的生育治疗方法，结合了新型ICI设备和数字健康体验，彻底改变了家庭生育治疗。

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.