Best ever take-home-baby rates and a renewed focus
Local MP and shadow health minister Andrew Lansley visits to see developments
The management team of Bourn Hall Limited announce today that ownership of Bourn Hall Clinic - the world's first in-vitro fertilisation clinic – and LCG Bioscience - a contract Clinical Research company, has transferred from its parent company, Serono, to the existing management team through an amicable, multi-million pound management buyout (MBO). This offers the committed team the chance to progress exciting new opportunities to improve take-home-baby-rates that are emerging from both the medical and research strands of their work.
The latest figures from Bourn Hall Clinic show that an advance in the IVF technique known as Blastocyst Culture is achieving a take-home-baby rate of 48%, much higher than the national average for ordinary IVF of 27.6% for women under 35. (HFEA figures)
Announcement of the MBO and the latest results was made to coincide with a visit by Rt Hon Andrew Lansley, MP to see the new Biomarker Research Laboratories at Bourn Hall, Bourn, Cambridge.
Mike Macnamee, Chief Executive of Bourn Hall Limited, is part of the five strong management team all of whom have been at the clinic for more than 10 years. He said:
"Bourn Hall Ltd is unique as it combines both a clinic and a research company. The founders made the first great breakthrough in IVF and the management team see considerable scope for continuing this tradition.
"Much of our work in both the clinic and research is directed at three areas: understanding the factors that influence implantation of the fertilised egg within the womb; ensuring that embryos with the best chance of success are selected and thirdly preparing the patient to support a healthy pregnancy.
Bourn Hall Clinic has above national average live birth rates. Its latest results from April to October 2005 show an average calculated live birth rate of 33% for standard IVF unadjusted for age, the national figure is 25-28%. This figure is further improved to 48% with Blastocyst Culture, which is a technique used where there has been recurrent failure for the fertilised egg to implant in the womb; a common cause of infertility.
Bourn Hall Clinical Pregnancy rates
| Treatment | Standar IVF | IVF with ICSI | IVF with BlastocystI |
| Number of Patients | 140 | 137 | 49 |
| Clinical Pregnancy Rate | 38% | 40% | 60% |
| Calculated live birth rate | 33% | 36% | 48% |
• Results for April to October 2005 per egg collection.
It is only within the last 18 months that advances in laboratory technology have made it possible to apply Blastocyst culture with confidence routinely to patient treatment, and this is the first set of results following this wider application of the technique.
Mike Macnamee continues, "18.7% of infertility is unexplained and this is a cause of considerable distress. By improving our understanding of the relationship between the embryo and the uterus we can increase the probability of a successful pregnancy.
Research in our Biomarker Laboratories is an important future aspect of this work. The Laboratory searches for molecular indicators of biological activity used to increase the efficacy of drugs. In this context the application of these techniques enable the 'dialogue' between the embryo and the uterus to be understood, allowing comparison of the protein fingerprint of embryos that implant with those that fail. The new laboratory provides a facility for research into this and other important areas of unmet medical need."
Mr Peter Brinsden, Medical Director at Bourn Hall Clinic, sees the MBO as an opportunity for the centre to build on its pioneering research in embryo development and implantation and make these developments more accessible. He said:
"Improving implantation rates is the next big challenge for everyone involved in assisted conception and Bourn Hall is in a unique position to take a lead in making the benefits of this research accessible to patients.
"In the clinic we have observed that techniques such as hysteroscopy – where the lining of the uterus is inspected with a telescope – can be used to identify how the health of the womb can be improved before IVF treatment; reducing the possible causes of failure and increasing the chance of pregnancy. Until now it has typically been used after several unsuccessful attempts. Our work suggests that used before treatment in tandem with ultrasound it could help reduce the number of cycles needed to achieve pregnancy."
"Further research into techniques, such as this, would not only improve success rates but also reduce the cost of fertility treatment making it more widely accessible."
Rt Hon Andrew Lansley MP said: "I am delighted to welcome in a new era at Bourn Hall and wish the management and staff every success. The results announced today are extremely promising and will bring renewed hope to many would-be parents."
