Fertility Road Issue 44 May/June 2018

FR News & Views
NEW FERTILITY TREATMENT
FOR MEN AND WOMEN
BEING DEVELOPED AT
BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
OF THE NEGEV PATENTED
BY BGN TECHNOLOGIES,
THE TREATMENT IS BASED
ON A NEW PROPRIETARY,
TELOMERASE-ACTIVATING
COMPOUND
BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion
University, announced today that researchers at Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev (BGU) is developing a new, single-dose fertility treatment
based on a new telomerase-activating compound, which could improve
both male and female fertility. The groundbreaking technology was
developed by Prof. Esther Priel and her research group, at BGU's Faculty
of Health Sciences in consultation with the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Laboratory at the Soroka University Medical Center, Israel.
The new treatment stimulates the expression of the telomerase, the enzyme
that is responsible for maintenance of telomeres, DNA sequences at the tip
of a chromosome that affect the life span of cells in general and contribute to
infertility. The novel treatment re-elongates the telomeres and protects cells
from damages, thereby increasing cell viability and increasing the likelihood
of fertilization and embryo generation and implantation. The treatment is
applied as a single dose, and dissipates within 24 hours. The compound was
tested on mice, and showed no toxic effects in animal studies.
“We’ve evaluated the efficacy of the new compound in mice and found that
a single dose greatly improves fertility in both female and male mice,” said
Prof. Priel. “One dose speeds up egg maturation and ovulation, increases the
number of ovulated eggs, and results in a larger number of viable offspring.”
“The compound also showed a protective effect on ovaries and testes of mice
undergoing radiation suggesting that it might be able to protect and improve
the fertility of women and men undergoing radiation therapy for cancer,”
added Prof. Priel.
The compound is a member of a family of several telomerase activating
compounds, that were found to affect several degenerative diseases,
developed in a research collaboration between Prof. Priel, Prof. Shimon
Slavin and Dr. Aviv Gazit.
“The promising preclinical results and especially the fact that a single dose
was sufficient to demonstrate the efficacy of the compound could lead to
a highly accessible treatment option,” stated Dr. Ora Horovitz, Senior Vice
President of Business Development at BGN Technologies. “We are now
seeking collaboration for further development of this promising treatment
towards human clinical trials and commercialization.”
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