Specialist
Director and consultant at King’s Fertility Ltd
Agenda
- Reprogenetic testing uptake across Europe, particularly the UK
- Competitive landscape, including CooperGenomics (NYSE: COO) and Igenomix, which Vitrolife (STO: VITR) agreed to acquire in July 2021
- Growth outlook and uptake of PGT-A (preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies), PGT-SR (preimplantation genetic testing for structural arrangements) and PGT-M (preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders)
- Cost breakdown of IVF cycles and add-on costs relating to reprogenetic testing such as PGT-A, including reimbursement dynamics across the UK
Questions
1.
Could you outline the reprogenetics market, highlighting key trends?
2.
Who would you say are the key players in the reprogenetics market? Out of those, who is the most advanced and who is lagging with technology?
3.
You mentioned how the technology has changed and become more efficacious. What progress has there been in genetic testing over the past five years? What do you think will be tested in five years?
4.
How difficult do you think it is for smaller players to enter the market? You mentioned the two key players are CooperGenomics and Igenomix. Are there any key barriers to entry for newer players?
5.
How should we bucket the types of testing available on the market?
6.
What percentage of the total reprogenetics market does each type of testing make up? What are the core tests?
7.
You described half of physicians as believers in reprogenetics and half as naysayers and there’s quite a bit of debate and controversy around the topic. Could you elaborate on what the uptake is and why this split and these debates happen?
8.
Why do you think there’s been such a stronger uptake in the US vs the UK? Is it to do with the regulators or are there other reasons?
9.
Do you think that genetic testing penetration in the UK will be fairly flat over the next five years and that there won’t be much YoY growth?
10.
Could you outline the PGD [preimplantation genetic diagnosis] and PGT-A [preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy] tests, including the key differences between the two tests’ uses?
11.
You mentioned that PGT-M [preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders] and PGT-SR [preimplantation genetic testing for structural arrangements] are available at two units. Where is PGT-A available? Is it just at the private labs?
12.
Does the NHS fund PGT-A or is it just PGT-M and PGT-SR?
13.
Do you think the NHS might fund PGT-A in the next 3-5 years?
14.
How long does the PGT-A process take from the testing to the transferring of healthy embryos?
15.
Has the waiting time for test results increased due to coronavirus?
16.
How much can the PGT-A increase the chances of a successful pregnancy or conception?
17.
Is there any risk of harm to the embryo during the procedures due to the invasive nature?
18.
What is PGT-A’s patient population? Is it recommended for all parents that undertake IVF [in vitro fertilisation] or is it more for older patients?
19.
What technology is required for the PGT-A test to take place in the clinic?
20.
An expert in a previous Interview [see Vitrolife & European IVF Market Outlook – Q2 2021 Update – 5 July 2021] mentioned non-invasive PGT-A. Could you outline the differences between non-invasive and invasive? Is there less risk to non-invasive?
21.
Do you think that non-invasive PGT-A would become the more dominant treatment if the science were there?
22.
How accurate is invasive PGT-A?
23.
What’s a typical price for biopsying one embryo as a PGT-A test, as well as the entire IVF cycle? I’ve read that prices for PGT-A can be USD 4,000-10,000.
24.
What costs are included in the clinic charges for the embryos?
25.
Can the PGT-A cost be bundled into the overall IVF cycle price?
26.
How does PGT-A’s price compare to other genetic testing on the market? Is it aligned?
