Ferring
Pharmaceuticals (US) is developing a highly purified form of
urofollitropin [
human follicle-stimulating hormone,
hFSH, FERRING
hFSH,
Bravelle] for use in ovarian stimulation in fertility treatments. The highly purified human-derived
follicle-stimulating hormone (HP-FSH), administered by either intramuscular (IM) or subcutaneous (SC) injection, was in phase III trials in the US and in May 2002 the product received US FDA approval for use in conjunction with
human chorionic gonadotropin for
infertility patients undergoing ovulation induction. The product will be marketed as
Bravelle. Ferring
Pharmaceuticals has also submitted a New
Drug Application for additional indications for
Bravelle in
infertility treatment, which is currently under review by the US FDA.
Bravelle is produced from the urine of menopausal women and has been shown to be as effective as Organon's recombinant FSH product, Follistam. Preclinical studies have shown that Ferring
Pharmaceuticals'
hFSH can be mixed in the same syringe as purified
human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) to reduce the number of daily
injections required in ovarian stimulation protocols without altering the bioactivity of FSH or luteinising
hormone. In addition, Ferring
Pharmaceuticals'
hFSH administered SC or IM showed positive results compared with SC
Repronex in a randomised, open-label study in patients undergoing in vitro fertilisation.Ferring
Pharmaceuticals has teamed up with the American
Infertility Association and RESOLVE: the National
Infertility Association to improve access to
infertility treatment in the US, with the recent launch of the '
Bravelle' HEART (Helping Expand Access to Reproductive
Therapy) Programme. The programme is intended to provide
urofollitropin treatment at significant cost savings to patients and their physicians. Serono is also developing a highly purified
urofollitropin product.