Notify enables treatment for women with diminished ovarian reserves

Approximately ten percent of infertile women suffer from diminished ovarian reserves, and for this reason, they do not benefit from currently available hormonal fertility treatment regimens. For these women, the development of a treatment targeting the very early phase of egg development is a promising solution that may enable them to give birth to a child of their own.

We focus 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 independent of hormones and is thus fundamentally different from the hormone-dependent processes that characterize the late maturation phase.

Building on a strong Proof of Concept

Human ex vivo: treatment-dependent 2-fold increase in secondary follicles from ovarian tissue donated from nine patients

Mouse in vivo: PoC in aged female mice, as a model for DOR, where 8 out of 10 treated aged female mice that received one dose of intraovarian administration, became pregnant and gave birth to healthy mice litters, whereas none of the 12 animals in the control placebo group became pregnant

Mouse ex vivo: treatment-dependent [3-fold] increase in mature egg maturation from ovarian tissue from mice.

No Safety Concerns observed – even at very high doses

How it works

To activate dormant follicles, we target the intracellular NRF2 pathway; a promotor of survival and growth and a major driver of follicle activation. We have identified and validated compounds that activate the NRF2 pathway in a controlled manner and thus supports the activation and ‘waking up’ of dormant follicles. 

Key publications

Dormancy and activation of human oocytes from primordial and primary follicles: molecular clues to oocyte regulation.

Ernst, Grøndahl, Grund, Hardy, Heuck, Sunde, Franks, Andersen, Villesen, Lykke-Hartmann.

Hum Reprod. 2017 doi: 10.1093/humrep/dex238.

Granulosa cells from human primordial and primary follicles show differential global gene expression profiles.

Ernst, Franks, Hardy, Villesen, Lykke-Hartmann.

Hum Reprod. 2018. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dey011.

Transcripts encoding free radical scavengers in human granulosa cells from primordial and primary ovarian follicles.

Ernst and Lykke-Hartmann.

J Assist Reprod Genet. 2018 doi: 10.1007/s10815-018-1240-3. Epub 2018 Jun 29.