SGS website22 Jun 2021 10:42
In 2021 St George Street is looking to start a Phase Ib clinical trial in Idiopathic Male Infertility, PRIMER. Male infertility is a completely neglected area of the pharmaceutical industry, however 1 in 7 couples will experience infertility and in 50% of these cases male factor infertility is a significant cause. ‘Idiopathic’ (or unexplained) is the diagnosis given to around half of all men with male infertility. The only proven treatment for idiopathic male infertility at present involves artificial reproductive technologies (ART), specifically a specialised form of IVF called ICSI. This is extremely invasive for the woman involving multiple weeks of high dose hormone self-injection, multiple intravaginal scans and egg harvesting. In the UK right now, the number one reason why couples require IVF therapy is actually male infertility, not female infertility. St George Street is looking to change this treatment paradigm, with a new therapy that looks to treat male factor infertility directly. The proposed Ph Ib trial is expected to involve around 40 patients who will be given an oral tablet for 10 days to investigate the biological mechanism of this oral therapy in blood and semen in men with Idiopathic Male Infertility. Here at St George Street, we passionately believe in the need for such a treatment with a huge community of both men and women calling for new treatments. We know that current treatments using ART come at a high financial and mental-health cost. We want to change that.