Notify Therapeutics receives funding to further develop hormone free treatment for infertile women
The biotech company, Notify Therapeutics, now joins The BioInnovation Institute Foundation’s (BII) Creation House with 10M DKK in funding. With their stay at Creation House Notify Therapeutics aim to make their hormone free treatment for infertility ready for entering a clinical trial program.
Infertility affects 48 million couples and 186 million individuals globally. Approximately ten percent of infertile women suffer from low ovarian reserves and for this reason do not benefit from currently available hormonal fertility treatment regimens. Their only option of getting pregnant is by use of donor eggs.
Through targeting of the early and hormone-independent phase of egg maturation, the biotech company iNotify work at developing a first-in-class treatment which enables infertile women to give birth to a genetic child.
The company focuses on the activation of so-called dormant follicles – a process that is pivotal for fertile eggs to mature. This early phase of follicle development is fundamentally different from the hormone-dependent processes that characterize the late maturation phase.
To activate dormant follicles, iNotify interferes with the intracellular AKT pathway, a promotor of survival and growth and a major driver of follicle activation. Notify Therapeutics’s technology activates the AKT pathway in a controlled manner and thus supports the activation and ‘waking up’ of dormant follicles.
“Infertility is a serious condition that has immensely impact on people’s lives. The existing treatment often causes nausea, vomiting, headaches and mood swings on top of the general pressure of wanting a child but not being able to have one. Our goal is to create a hormone free treatment for infertility enabling people to fulfill their dream of a child. We look forward to sharing our experience and network with BII and the other participants in Creation House,” says Karin Lykke-Hartmann, founder of iNotify and professor in reproductive medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark.
The BioInnovation Institute Foundation, an international non-profit foundation supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, operates as an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation.
The Creation House program offers support to early-stage start-ups, who have achieved proof of concept and have developed an early business plan of a novel idea to the benefit of society and patients making iNotify a great candidate.
“There is a large unmet need when it comes to new treatments for women in general. Only 1-2 percent of research and development spend goes to women’s health which also puts significant limitations to new treatments for infertility. The founder of iNotify, Professor Karin Lykke-Hartmann from Aarhus University, has a strong research background in the area and her approach with a non-hormonal treatment for women with low ovarian reserves looks very promising at the pre-clinical stage,” says Trine Bartholdy, Business Development at BII.
For further information, please visit www.notifytherapeutics.com or contact Karin Lykke-Hartmann, founder, CEO of Notify Therapeutics, and professor in reproductive medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark.
Mail: karin@notifytherapeutics.com
About iNotify
iNotify focuses on the initial ovarian follicle development to help infertile women, not benefitting from today’s standard hormone treatment.
The company uses a first-in-class drug inducing factors that regulates the intracellular AKT pathway; a major driver of follicle activation and a signal transduction pathway that promotes survival and growth in response to extracellular signals.
A discovery that provides hope for millions of women around the world for conceiving a genetically related child.
With their stay at Creation House iNotify wish to make this solution ready for entering a clinical trial program.
About The BioInnovation Institute Foundation
The BioInnovation Institute Foundation (BII) is an international non-profit foundation supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. BII operates an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives the development of new solutions by early-stage life science start-ups for the benefit of people and society.
With continued positive development, The Novo Nordisk Foundation can provide up to EUR 470 (3,5 mia. DKK) to BII over 10 years to support early-stage life science projects and start-ups for the benefit of people and society.
Since the inauguration of BII in November 2018, BII has awarded 35 million euros to 68 high-growth start-up companies.
For more information, please visit www.bii.dk