June 8, 2015: Merck Serono Fertility is on its way to strategically grow from a pure drug company to a holistic Fertility Provider, supporting the improvement of success in Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) by going beyond drugs. Following the announcement of a global collaboration agreement with Genea Biomedx a few days ago, the Fertility Technologies unit takes the next big leap forward: It initiated a consortium that aims to advance excellence in fertility technologies and processes within the ART laboratory – the Global Fertility Alliance.
Merck Serono partners with two other companies: Illumina, a leader in developing and commercializing systems for analysis of genetic variation and function, and Genea, a leading fertility clinic chain with broad experience in fertility treatment and development of innovative fertility technologies. The formation of the Global Fertility Alliance comes just in time for the annual congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Lisbon, Portugal (June 14-17, 2015), where the alliance will be launched and introduced to the fertility community.
Meeta Gulyani, Head of Global Strategy and Franchises, Merck Serono
All partners of the alliance share a joint desire to help improve fertility outcomes by contributing to the standardization of technologies and protocols in the ART lab. Together they will address variation in practices and technologies that lead to inconsistent results and outcomes.
“We are the global leader in the field of fertility drugs and committed to supporting the success and improvement in ART by going beyond drugs with innovative technologies,” explained Meeta Gulyani, Head of Global Strategy and Franchises at Merck Serono. “By forging the Global Fertility Alliance with partners like Illumina and Genea, we aim to support the development of needed global standards in ART labs. This will ensure a consistently high level of performance between different centers and countries.”
Dorothea Wenzel, Head Global Business Franchise Fertility, Merck Serono
Recognizing the importance of innovation in ART technologies Merck Serono together with Illumina and Genea aims to enhance progress in three ways: Firstly, the founding members aim to foster integration of multiple, leading fertility technologies. Secondly, building on this, the alliance will aim to collaborate with leading health care professionals and medical societies to develop global standards. And finally, as technologies in the fertility space are rapidly advancing, the alliance will also develop educational resources for health care professionals worldwide. In order to rapidly progress the initiative, the alliance will establish a board of representatives which will meet regularly. At the same time, the alliance’s founding partners are inviting new members, who demonstrate a consistent commitment to driving technology innovation and improving ART results, to join the alliance.
Dorothea Wenzel, Head Global Business Franchise Fertility, concludes: “Founding the Global Fertility Alliance is another important step for Merck Serono towards improving the consistency in ART labs worldwide. We really can make a difference here, together with our current and potential future partners. It is great to see how our Fertility Technologies group is moving forward, working to improve quality in the labs to help couples create families.”
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