Molecular Biometrics Inc. is touting new data showing the effectiveness of its ViaMetrics-E metabolomic test in assessing the viability of human embryos for in vitro fertilization. Typically, doctors use a visual, morphology examination of embryos to assess their viability.
The Norwood, Mass.-based firm presented data from three studies of the procedure when used with single-embryo transfer in IVF. One study showed that the procedure, which assesses the metabolic activity of embryos, “more accurately predicts implantation rates” in single-embryo transfer cycles. The presentation was made at the 26th annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome.
The study examined spent culture media from 439 embryos from 114 patients. It showed that Day 5 embryos of similar morphology recorded a wide variation in viability as measured by the ViaMetrics-E test. Embryos with the best morphology within the cohort had the best viability scores in 26 percent of the cases, according to a press release.
Another study compared standard morphology alone, morphology used with the Molecular Biometrics test and use of the test on its own. Using the benchmark of embryos’ positive and negative fetal cardiac activity at 12 weeks of gestation, the study examined 209 spent embryo culture media samples. It showed that use of the test could yield up to 15 percent better predictability than morphology alone.
Data from a third study assessed the accuracy of ViaMetrics-E in predicting the implantation potential of individual embryos using 248 spent culture media samples. That study showed a correlation between high viability scores using the test and pregnancy rates (defined as positive or negative fetal cardiac activity at 12 weeks).
The test, which won a CE Mark in the European Union and is undergoing a clinical trial aimed at winning a nod from the Food & Drug Administration, president and CEO James Posillico told MassDevice earlier this year. The test is on the market in Australia, Japan, Greece, Ireland and the U.K., Italy and Spain, with more on the way, Posillico said.
