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Contact:
Julie Dennehy - 508-533-8311
or Lisa Fruitt - 781-274-0330
Woburn, MA, April 15, 2004 – Repromedix has launched a panel of two new advanced tests for male infertility that, taken together, provide the clearest indication of a sperm’s ability to successfully achieve pregnancy and live birth. One test assesses the level of DNA damage to a patient’s sperm while the second measures sperm function post-egg penetration. Taken together these tests go well beyond information provided by traditional sperm testing, such as count and motility.
Repromedix’ Advanced Male Reproductive Potential Panel includes the Sperm DNA Fragmentation Assay (SDFAä) and Sperm DNA Decondensation (SDDä) Test. Results suggesting low to poor fertility potential indicate that a couple has little or no chance of conceiving a child naturally or through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). When conducted at the outset of infertility treatment, these tests could eliminate the emotional and financial costs of ART, leading a couple to pursue other options, such as sperm donation or adoption.
Male infertility is a significant medical problem, with 40% of all infertility ascribed entirely or in part to male factors and an additional 20% unexplained1. Data suggests that approximately 10-20% of the couples screened will have abnormal results from either the SDD test, the SDFA test2, or both, and are unlikely to benefit from expensive, painful, and time consuming IVF procedures without treatment.
Launch of the highly complex male infertility tests comes just one month after Repromedix received $1.6 million in expansion investment capital from Brook Venture Partners LLC and the Massachusetts Business Development Corp in Wakefield, MA. Repromedix founder and CEO Craig Sockol said the recent investment and the addition of significant new tests to its portfolio “confirms our standing as the leading national reference laboratory for infertility and high-risk pregnancy.” Sockol added that male factors are “an under-appreciated source of infertility, and advanced tests such as these will become one of our company’s greatest growth areas.”
About the Tests
The SDD Test is proprietary to Repromedix, which signed an exclusive licensing agreement with test inventor David Brown, PhD. SDD measures the ability of the sperm to perform a crucial function, without which fertilization would fail.
SDFA or tests like it are offered at only three labs in the country, none in the eastern United States. Based on a well-established test (SCSAÒ by Dr. Evenson,) SDFA is a structural test of a patient’s sperm’s ability to achieve pregnancy and eventually a live birth. Physicians nationwide may order SDD and SDFA, either individually or in the Advanced Male Reproductive Potential Panel, by calling Repromedix’ toll-free number -- 800-667-8893
About Repromedix
Repromedix is the leading national laboratory specializing in advanced reproductive testing. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to clinical testing, the company helps doctors find solutions to their most difficult cases of female and male infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and high-risk pregnancy.
The company, based in Woburn, MA, was founded in 1994 by CEO Craig Sockol. It serves physicians and their patients throughout the United States and Canada.
1 American Society of Reproductive Medicine; Patient’s Fact Sheet; 1997
2 Brown D, Nagamani M; 1992; Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine: 65, 29-38 (SDD); and on unpublished clinical data (SDFA)