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Societal, legal shifts complicate recruitment efforts.

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$189 Million. Five Fertility Companies Raised the Most Venture Capital in 2022, say two VCs

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This News Digest Brought to You by
BUNDL

 
 
 

BY:  ERIN FLYNN JAY

According to two venture capitalists in the women’s health space, the top five venture capital raises of 2022 for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) companies were:

  1. Maven Clinic – Series E at $90M

  2. Oma Fertility--Series A at $29M

  3. AiVF – Series A at $25M

  4. Gameto – Seed at $23M

  5. Alife – Series A at $22M

The analysis was offered by two different venture capitalists who do not work together and who both wished not to be named. The raises do not include other businesses that look at provide prenatal or post-natal care, menopause, or contraception.

Who was behind these venture capital fund raises and what are they using the money for?

In November 2022, Maven Clinic, the largest virtual clinic in women's and family health, announced it raised a $90 million Series E funding round. According to a Maven Clinic press release, this was led by General Catalyst, with participation from CVS Health Ventures, La Famiglia, and Intermountain Ventures, as well as existing investors Sequoia, Oak HC/FT, Icon Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Lux Capital. 

This brought Maven's total funding to $300 million.

Maven is using this new funding to continue to invest in personalization across its platform in both commercial and Medicaid populations. 

Oma Fertility raised $29M through Seed and Series A rounds led by JAZZ Venture Partners, Root Ventures, Mithril Capital, Global Asset Capital, and Free Solo Ventures in addition to a $8.5M debt facility led by Silicon Valley Bank according to their June 2022 press release. Oma Fertility also purchases fertility clinics and is building De Novo IVF centers. They are associated with Oma Sperm Insight and Oma Robotics.

In June 2022, AiVF®, developer of the first fully operational AI-based IVF software platform, announced in a company press release that it raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Insight Partners, a New York-based venture capital and private equity firm with participation from Adam Neumann’s Family Office, 166 2nd.

AiVF is using the funding to fuel adoption of the company’s AI platform, EMA™ in the United States and Europe, expand its work force and develop additional solutions to drive a new generation of digital fertility care.

AiVF did not respond to requests for comment on their expanded capacity to serve the US and European markets. 

In January 2022, Gameto, a biotechnology start-up solving the problem of accelerated ovarian aging to change the trajectory of women's health and equality, announced it raised a $20 million in Series A funding led by Future Ventures, with participation from Bold Capital Partners, Lux Capital, Plum Alley, TA Ventures, Overwater Ventures, Robert Nelsen and Anne Wojcicki. 

Gameto also raised $3 million in Seed funding in March 2020 from a range of notable investors including Jack Abraham, SALT Fund, FJ Labs, Dan Rose and Brian Armstrong, according to a company press release.

The Series A funding was led by venture-capital firm Future Ventures. Founded by Steve Jurvetson and Maryanna Saenko, Future Ventures focuses on early-stage disruptive technologies.

Gameto is building a platform for ovarian therapeutics to initially address menopause and improve assisted fertility with three sequenced programs:

  1. Fertilo. Treats oocytes outside of the body, increasing maturation rates and oocyte quality to improve IVF and egg freezing outcomes.

  2. Deovo. To initiate drug discovery and a computational platform for ovarian aging.

  3. Ameno. A cell-based therapeutic to disassociate the unwanted effects of menopause that occur with the loss of fertility.


In March 2022, Alife Health, the fertility technology company building artificial intelligence tools to advance in-vitro fertilization (IVF), announced it raised $22 million in Series A financing co-led by existing Seed lead Deena Shakir at Lux Capital, and new investors Rebecca Kaden at Union Square Ventures and Anarghya Vardhana at Maveron, both of whom joined Alife's Board of Directors.

With its new funding, Alife brought its first two products to market and continues conducting clinical studies for a third product. Alife's first medical product, Stim Assist, was released in October 2022. It is used during the ovarian stimulation process. 

Alife also released its first patient product late last year. Upon conducting extensive interviews with past IVF patients, Alife identified the need to streamline and organize the IVF process. With Alife's mobile app, patients gain a comprehensive platform that includes educational resources and easy-to-use organizational tools for medication reminders, appointments, lab results, and more.

"Looking into 2023, there is still a large amount of capital that funds must deploy in the near future, but I expect that they will be very selective on who they fund" remarks Dr. Eduardo Hariton, a practicing REI physician who is the Managing Director of US Fertility's Innovation Fund. "Companies who have not been able to achieve product-market fit or meet previous milestones may struggle to raise further capital. Ultimately, this may lead to some consolidation of companies in our space." 
 

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

IVF Patient Drop Out Rises, Patients Seek Fertility Clinic

The number of patients who do not continue after a failed IVF cycle is on the rise at some IVF centers.

To counter the decrease in IVF revenue, fertility centers are turning to partners who have IVF-ready, financially qualified patients, but who don’t yet have a fertility clinic.

Courtney from BUNDL has a list of treatment-ready patients in each city. There is no fee but the offer is for the US and Canada only.

 
 

All external links active as of 2/9/23.

External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

Fertility Division Closures Raise Questions about Future of Genetics Companies

This News Digest Brought to You by
BUNDL

 
 
 

BY:  ALEXANDRA FROST

Major genetics companies downsized their fertility divisions in 2022 and 2023, causing speculation on the future of fertility testing. Genomic testing company Sema4, which recently changed names to GeneDx, another genetics company it acquired last year, administered a round of layoffs after 2022 quarter 2 results were announced. 

Again on November 14, 2022, they announced additional restructuring, cutting their reproductive health testing lab, approximately an additional 500 employees. CEO, Katherine Stueland, said in a call with investors, that the reproductive health testing business is “unsustainable,” pointing to capital market constraints in the macroeconomic climate. GeneDx didn’t respond to requests for comment on these layoffs. 

Similarly, in July 2022, genetic testing company Invitae announced layoffs of more than 1,000 employees, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report. In addition, Invitae’s January 9, 2023 financial results from 2022 reflect a fourth-quarter decline “ due to the exited businesses and geographies,” compared to the previous year.  The Mercury News reported that Natera announced plans to lay off 58 people in November 2022.

In Invitae’s July 2022 business realignment strategy, they describe focusing on higher margin testing opportunities as part of a plan to realize $326 million in cost savings in 2023. Invitae responded with “no comment” for more information on these layoffs and changes.

The shift away from tests such as carrier screenings, noninvasive prenatal testing, among others, have fertility industry leaders examining what these strategy changes mean for the future of genetic testing.  “In terms of the genetics lab space right now, I would sum it up as the chickens are coming home to roost,” says Carrie Haverty, a genetic counselor who spent around 15 years working in reproductive health space seeing patients, and then moved into women's health product leadership roles at Counsyl, Myriad Women's Health, and now Mirvie

“This is happening now, versus the last five to seven years, because money is not as readily available to smooth over the gaps,”. Haverty points to a combination of “unfortunate business models — data isn’t valuable if you don’t have an actual plan to monetize it,” and macroeconomic cycles, in which she says investors are demanding some reasonable path to positive margins. In her December article “Genetic Testing Labs: Winter is Coming,” she expresses concern that if reproductive health was a major part of Sema4’s testing volume and revenue, where will growth come from? 

Christina Ren, board-certified genetic counselor turned life science investor, says “ [Sema4] cut reproductive health services to focus on pediatric and rare disease tests instead. Not all tests cost and are reimbursed the same, leading to discrepancies between different genomic specialties.” 

Former Sema4 Regional Sales Leader in the Women’s Health division, Brie McKeller, MPA, says she started to be alarmed about the company’s direction after hearing the mid-August shareholders call, and was abruptly notified of layoffs on November 14, 2022. She says Sema4 “has done a huge disservice to employees, but also to the IVF industry as a whole.” 

“More and more we saw other companies were going under that were doing women’s reproductive health testing. We came to find out, as a whole, the insurance industry was no longer allowing for these large payouts,” she says, noting that genetics companies didn’t have input with large payors. “That preempted the downfall of so many of these companies. They didn’t foresee insurance payors would no longer be paying these larger amounts, and would be consolidating which places they’re using.”

At the Sema4 shareholder call, McKeller says she was shocked to hear that the company was dealing with a $30 million revenue reversal. “It turns out, in an attempt to get in network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sema4 was at the helm of an internal audit by BCBS, only to find out that Sema4 overcharged them by $30 million between 2019 and February 2022.” McKeller says it felt like CEO Katherine Stueland “breezed over” the development which foreshadowed the eventual cuts. 

Haverty adds that reproductive health is typically poorly reimbursed, especially compared to oncology. Haverty says testing in the reproductive endocrinology/infertility space is often paid by wealthier patients. “Insurers do not place a high value on reproductive health outcomes, particularly when the issue would either result in [the loss of the baby or pregnancy]  at no cost to the [insurer].  [If the issue] results in a serious condition later,it’s unlikely [the insurance company] will still have that patient under their care given the average turnover is less than 2 years,” she says. “Why pay for something that won't deliver an ROI for [the insurance company], but rather for some other payor — and often a government payor?”

As stakeholders watch the future of genetics testing unfold, some, like Ren are still optimistic. “It's not about altruism; it's about good businesses that can make a positive impact. In a time dominated by short-termism, there's more value than ever in building for the long term. Cancer doesn’t care about inflation and rising interest rates. Infertility doesn’t care when earnings season is. There are real problems to be solved regardless of the macro environment.”

Dr. Mili Thakur, Triple board certified in obstetrics and gynecology, reproductive endocrinology/infertility and medical genetics, adds that clinicians' reliance on genetic testing companies for their genetic counseling needs is “not sustainable.”

“The drivers for for-profit commercial companies are financial, while the driver for clinicians is good patient care,” she says. “The field of reproductive genetics will keep on expanding. If we strengthen our clinical genetic practice and highlight its importance, genetic testing companies and stakeholders will have to acknowledge that this field of genetics is essential, enabling adequate support for this specialty.”

When asked to remark on the future of genetic testing companies in the reproductive medicine space, Progenesis did not respond to a request for comment and Natera declined to comment.

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

New Patient Visits Drop, IVF Centers Seek Strategy

Different fertility centers across the United States have started to see new patient volumes decrease.

To counter the decrease in new patient revenue, fertility centers are turning to partners who have IVF-ready, financially qualified patients, but who don’t yet have a fertility clinic.

Courtney from BUNDL has a list of treatment-ready patients in each city. There is no fee but the offer is for the US and Canada only. 

 
 

All external links active as of 2/2/23.

External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

$3.25B. World’s Largest Ever Fertility Clinic Acquisition Approved After Almost One Year

This News Digest Brought to You by
CYCLE CLARITY

 
 
 

BY: RON SHINKMAN

Private equity giant KKR & Co. has, after 11 months of waiting for approval, closed its purchase of an 80% stake in IVIRMA Global, the Spanish-based chain of IVF clinics that is among the largest in the world.

The acquisition of IVIRMA by KKR is the world’s largest ever among fertility clinics, according to deal flow monitoring by Dresner Partners, a middle-market investment bank not involved in this deal, said Mitchell Stern, managing director.

The Spanish newspaper Cinco Dias reported that IVIRMA had originally planned an initial public offering, at a valuation of just over €1 billion in 2018, before disagreements among shareholders ultimately led to an offer from KKR for more than three times that amount.

KKR first announced the deal to acquire the majority stake in IVIRMA for an estimated 3 billion Euros ($3.25 billion) in March 2022. However, the Spanish trade regulator CNMC (Comisión Nacional De Los Mercados Y La Competencia) only approved the deal on Dec. 21 and did not announce it until Jan. 18, suggesting KKR and CNMC were in protracted negotiations to reach an agreement.

Specifically, the CNMC voiced concerns about the overlap of IVIRMA’s operations with IVF provider GeneraLife, which KKR acquired last year. GeneraLife operates 16 sites in Spain, and dozens more in Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic and other European countries.

IVI is one of the older fertility chains in Europe, having been founded in 1990 and offering services such as ICSI as early as the mid-1990s. Spain’s IVI merged with U.S. contemporary, RMA of New Jersey in 2017, creating IVIRMA Global, and caught the attention of large investors.

KKR agreed to two specific conditions imposed by CNMC to close the acquisition: Divest its current clinic holdings in the provinces of Seville, Murcia and Zaragoza. GeneraLife operates five sites in those regions under the Ginemed brand. 

KKR also agreed not to raise prices among the clinics it will operate in Madrid, as well as not engage in any agreements to provide fertility services in conjunction with its primary competitor in Spain’s largest city. That provision is in effect for three years. The competitor was not named by the CNMC, but the GeneraLife-owned Ginefiv has the highest number of Google reviews in the area. 

Lastly, KKR agreed to modify arrangements for distributing exclusive solutions it owns that are used to freeze eggs and embryos.

“The offered commitments are sufficient to remedy the risks generated by the transaction in the markets for the provision of reproductive medicine services,” CNMC said in a statement.

KKR topped at least six other firms, including Cinven and Amulet Capital, Nordic Cap. Bain Capital, Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners, in their bid to purchase IVIRMA. Amulet Capital owns US Fertility, Nordic Capital owns CARE Fertility, CVC owns FutureLife, and Bain is an investor in sperm testing co., Legacy. Carlyle acquired equity in pharmaceutical company, Thermamex in August 2022.

KKR went ahead with the deal despite the choices of Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse AG, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank AG last summer to dump their loan obligations,. In April 2022, Bloomberg reported the four banks had battled private creditors to finance the deal. Less than six months later, Bloomberg reported that those same four banks sold their approximately $869 million in obligations to private credit firms at a loss.

KKR declined to comment to Inside Reproductive Health about their post acquisition plans. There is no mention of the deal closing on the KKR website, and no indication of management or boardroom changes on the IVIRMA website.

Currently, IVI operates a total of 75 sites in nine countries, including clinics and laboratories. That includes 33 in Spain, 20 in the United States and 13 in the United Kingdom, according to the company’s website.

“They are interested in expanding in the United States,” said Stern. Currently, the bulk of IVIRMA’s U.S. clinics are in New Jersey and California. It operates two sites each in Pennsylvania and single locations in Florida, Texas and Washington State.

Aside from Spain and the United Kingdom, IVIRMA operates just six clinics in Europe--in Portugal, Italy and Denmark, according to their website. It is unclear if KKR plans to further expand IVIRMA clinics into areas where it has GeneraLife properties.

A recent interview given to Bloomberg by Philipp Freise, a KKR partner and its co-head of European private equity, suggested that the company will be particularly aggressive in Europe, in reproductive services. “As a macro point, Europe has never been more attractive in our view,” he said. “Now’s the time.”

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

Fertility Provider and Staff Benchmarks Surprise Many
 
Last week, more than twenty fertility providers, executives, and employees downloaded averages for 

  • Ultrasounds per IVF cycle

  • Time required for each Ultrasound

  • Ultrasonographer Time

  • Ultrasonographer Salary with Benefits

  • Nursing Time per IVF Scan

  • Nursing Salary with Benefits

  • MA Salary with Benefits

  • MD Revenue Working Top of License/hr

Link below will not be available in Inside Reproductive Health next week. See how your fertility center compares while still available now.

 
 

All external links active as of 1/26/23.

External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

At least 25 Fertility Clinics Sold in 2022. Who They Were and Who Bought Them

This News Digest Brought to You by
CYCLE CLARITY

 
 
 

BY MICHAEL BARBELLA

Merger and acquisition activity continued to consolidate fertility clinics in 2022 as companies providing reproductive assistance brokered deals that expanded their buyers’ geographic footprints and market share. Transaction totals have increased in recent years from more buyers. 

“For fertility practice transactions, 2022 was a tale of two kinds”, explains Richard Groberg, a financial executive who advises business sellers and buyers in the fertility field.  “Early 2022 saw significant interest from buyers at high multiples [of EBITDA]”.  

Groberg went on to say that many practices’ IVF and patient volumes declined in later 2022 after peaking from what he sees as a post-Covid boom in 2021. “As a result, acquirers have become much more prudent/risk averse in terms of valuations, earn outs, claw back provisions, etc.”

Damian Dalla-Longa, a partner at New York City-based Albaron Partners, a lower middle-market investment firm focused on the healthcare sector, says he is very optimistic about his group’s investment position in the fertility industry. “In the U.S. and globally, patient demand for fertility services outstrips the supply of physicians and IVF facilities. This will continue to drive strong growth in the industry for years to come.” 

Such demand, along with a better awareness of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) and related services, rising infertility rates, and the advancing age of first-time parents, is expected to boost the global market’s value 37.5 percent (reaching $36.25 billion) by 2028, according to Zion Market Research data.

That growth has spawned a bounty of M&A activity over the last seven years. At least 25 deals transpired in 2022, as PE firms, digital health providers, and reproductive assistance/fertility companies jockeyed for market share. Some of the transactions included:

North America
 

Kindbody’s purchase of Vios Fertility Institute (February), Phosphorus Labs (June), and Alternative Reproductive Resources (August). The Vios deal doubled Kindbody’s U.S. footprint at the time to 26 clinics and propelled the company to unicorn status at a $1.15 billion valuation. The Phosphorus Labs and Alternative Reproductive Resources additions, meanwhile, gave Kindbody in-house genetic testing and surrogacy capabilities, respectively.
 

The Fertility Partners’ Canadian and U.S. expansion via partnerships with Ottawa Fertility Centre (Ontario), Grace Fertility Centre (Vancouver), Illume Fertility (Norwalk, Conn.), and Kitchener Area Reproductive Medicine Associates (Ontario). The latter affiliation expanded The Fertility Partners’ presence to 13 IVF centers across 36 locations in Canada and the United States, including seven in Ontario.  

Pinnacle Fertility’s eight-clinic spending spree. Joining the Pinnacle corporate family were ORM Fertility (four practice loations in Oregon and Washington), Advanced Fertility Care (two practice locations in the metro Phoenix area), California Fertility Partners (Los Angeles), Institute for Human Reproduction (Chicago), Dominion Fertility (greater Washington, D.C. area), Seattle Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproductive Care (Chicago), and IVF1 (Naperville, Ill.). “Our two most recent additions, Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM) and IVF1, have expanded our geographical blueprint,” said Chief Operating Officer Beth Zoneraich. “With SRM, we vastly expanded our presence in the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast overall.”

CCRM’s pickup of The Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Science, a fertility treatment center with eight offices in New York and New Jersey, and RADfertility, a fertility center with offices in Newark, Wilmington, and Dover, Del. CCRM is backed by TA Associates and Unified Women’s Healthcare. 

Innovation Fertility, headed by CEO, Dwight Ryan, is the result of Albaron Partners affiliates’ acquisition of SpringCreek Fertility in Ohio. Charlotte, N.C.-based wealth advisory firm New Republic Partners made a strategic investment in Innovation Fertility, which is owned by Albaron Partners. “When we look at opportunities in general, we look to invest in underserved markets with positive growth potential,” said Dalla-Longa.

Ivy Fertility was backed by InTandem Capital Partners to purchase Utah Fertility Center, Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine, and Nevada Fertility Center. 

Prelude Network, owned by Inception Fertility, made its second fertility clinic purchase in Canada with Alberta’s Regional Fertility Program. Inception Fertility’s financier, Lee Equity Partners, is in the process of seeking a buyer for the company, according to reports from Axios.

Ovation Fertility, which typically purchases the IVF lab rather than the clinic, announced its deals with the Fertility Center in Grand Rapids in May Northeastern Reproductive Medicine in August. WindRose sold its stake in Ovation to Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 2019.

Oma Fertility’s acquisition of Syosset, N.Y.-headquartered New York Reproductive Wellness. Oma Fertility is a division of San Jose, Calif.-based Oma Robotics, which boasts Jazz Venture Partners, Mithril, and Root Ventures as investors.

Boston IVF’s purchase of Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine, a fertility treatment provider in Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic region. Boston IVF is owned by the Eugin Group which is owned by publicly traded, Fresenius Helios.

Global Premiere Fertility’s pickup of Laguna Hills, Calif.-based Reproductive Health & Wellness Center. Led by CEO Kolin Ozonian, Global Premiere closed an $11 million Series C funding round last June from Triangle Capital Corporation. 

CARE Fertility, owned and financed by Nordic Capital, made their first entry into the United States when they purchased Reproductive Endocrinology Associates of Charlotte (REACH) at the end of 2022.

International

IVIRMA sold to KKR for €3 billion instead of listing an initial public offering.

Monash IVF Group Limited’s $9.4 million purchase of PIVET Medical Centre, a southwest Australian fertility services provider; and $3.9 million deal for ART Associates Queensland #2 Pty. Ltd. in Brisbane, Queensland.

FutureLife was backed by CVC Capital Partners and Hartenberg Holding in its acquisition of Institut Marques, one of Spain’s largest fertility clinics. Headquartered in Barcelona, Institut Marques operates three clinics in Spain and two in Italy. 

Not announced in 2022
 

Fertility Specialists Network, supported by LongueVue Capital, acquired Boca Fertility on January 12, 2023.

The last announced acquisition from Sverica Capital’s First Fertility was Fertility Institute of New Orleans in December, 2021

No announcements on 2022 acquisitions were found from US Fertility, whose principal investor is Amulet Capital, in 2022.

Groberg says that fertility networks, also known as Management Service Organizations (MSO) may begin to merge or invest more in starting De Novo (new location or start-up) fertility practices this year. 

With regard to acquisitions of fertility centers in 2023, Groberg anticipates another tale of two kinds.

“I expect that acquirers will continue with more prudent valuations and terms.  Also, there seem to be fewer multi-physician practices available, which likely will reduce overall activity but might increase the multiples for the strong, multi-physician practices that are interested in selling”.

 

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

Corrections and Additions, January 27, 2023:

Correction: US Fertility's acquisition of Center of Reproductive Medicine in the Houston area was announced in January 2022.

Addition: Inception Fertility reported to Inside Reproductive Health that Prelude's acquisition of Main Line Fertility in the Philadelphia area took place in 2022.

Fertility Provider and Staff Utilization Rate Benchmarks Revealed
 

One fertility company releases their averages for 

  • Ultrasounds per IVF cycle

  • Time required for each Ultrasound

  • Ultrasonographer Time

  • Ultrasonographer Salary with Benefits

  • Nursing Time per IVF Scan

  • Nursing Salary with Benefits

  • MA Salary with Benefits

  • MD Revenue Working Top of License/hr

See how your fertility center compares

 
 

All external links active as of 1/19/23.

External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

British Invasion: UK's Largest Fertility Group Makes First US Acquisition

This News Digest Brought to You by
CYCLE CLARITY

 
 
 

BY RACHEL LELAND

CARE Fertility, the United Kingdom's largest fertility group, has announced its first-ever entry into the United States fertility market by acquiring REACH, a former Integramed fertility clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina with four REI physicians and four advanced practice providers (APP).

The acquisition, along with one other, are CARE's first outside of the U.K. and Ireland. In tandem with announcing the REACH acquisition, CARE announced it was buying IVF-Life Spain. 

The financier behind CARE is Nordic Capital, which bought CARE from Silverfleet Capital in January 2022, to support the fertility group’s expansion into international markets. CARE Fertility generated €74 million in revenue in 2021. Nordic Capital reports €31 billion in assets under management from 47 investments in its current portfolio. According to Crunch Base, the international investment firm is based in Copenhagen.

Robert Goodman, Vice President at MidCap Advisors, an investment banking firm which handles mergers and acquisitions, and is familiar with REACH, said that he couldn’t speak to the dollar figure of the deal because MidCap was not involved in this sale. Goodman estimates the range of the deal was “probably a low double digit multiple of EBITDA.” 

According to Patrick McPhillips, Executive Director at REACH, the North Carolina clinic ultimately decided to liaise with the buyer directly, rather than work with an investment banking firm.

As the largest provider group of IVF in the U.K., CARE does about 10,000 fresh treatment cycles every year and a similar number of frozen embryo procedures, according to Alison Campbell, Chief Scientific Officer at CARE. REACH currently does just under 600 retrievals per year according to McPhillips.

Campbell called their acquisition timely, because of a shortage of embryologists in the U.S., which is largely due, in their view, to a lack of adequate embryology training programs. CARE launched a master's program in clinical embryology in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University in 2022.

“We use half a billion images of thousands and thousands of embryos to train the machine learning to automatically annotate these timelapse videos,” Campbell said. “So that in itself is saving twenty-three weeks of embryology time across the group. A real efficiency gain there.” 

McPhillips, says one of the most significant benefits of the partnership for REACH will be having access to CARE’s extensive network of data. While the two clinics are in the beginning stages of the integration, REACH will soon have access to CARE’s IT systems and Power BI, the cloud-based analytics service that CARE uses to visualize and analyze data from its over twenty clinics in the U.K. 

According to Campbell, CARE and REACH are already talking about introducing CAREmaps, CARE’s trademarked time-lapse imaging technique, which helps clinicians select embryos that have the highest potential without needing genetic testing. 

CARE was co-founded in 1997 by Dr. Simon Fishel, who was a part of the team that created the world's first IVF baby in 1978. REACH was founded in 1988 by Dr. Richard L Wing.

Campbell says that CARE is looking at partnering with even more clinics in the Southeast and the broader U.S. 

REACH says they will maintain their name and not take on the CARE name in the United States.

“CARE isn’t going to rebrand us or make us one of many,” McPhillips said. 

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

IVF Center Performing 1,500 cycles loses $2.38 million


Artificial Intelligence company calculates the expense and time presets of ultrasounds per IVF cycle and per OI cycle. The time and revenue audit of clinical inefficiencies during monitoring ultrasounds reveals that the average IVF center, doing 1,500 IVF cycles per year, loses $9,168.25 per day.

 
 

All external links active as of 1/12/23.

External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

Investigation: Progyny Aim of 'Wall Street Suing Machine' After Anonymous Firm Alleges Deceptive Accounting in Competitor-Informed Short Report

This News Digest Brought to You by
BUNDL

 
 
 

BY ERIN FLYNN JAY
 
Rosen Law Firm, The Schall Law Firm, and two other national shareholder rights litigation firms, each announced an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Progyny, Inc., the largest fertility employer benefit company (NASDAQ: PGNY). 
 
The litigators cite a competitor-informed report by unknown authors that alleges that Progyny “is deceiving the investor community via its financial reporting practices”.
 
On December 7, 2022, Jehoshaphat Research published a short report addressing Progyny, entitled “A Love Child of Accounting Games & Credit Risk. The Jehoshaphat Report alleges that Progyny “is deceiving the investor community via its financial reporting practices” and that Progyny “is actually unprofitable but masks this problem with accounting games.” Among other items, the report alleges that Progyny recently stopped accruing allowances for customer cancellations.
 
According to the report, an employee of KindBody, a competitor of Progyny, talked to the Jehosaphat Research Group. We asked KindBody to comment on who that was and what their relationship with Jehosaphat is. Gina Bartasi, Chair, replied in an email: “We do not know who spoke with Jehosaphat. We won't be weighing in on this report.”

Six investment banks, including KeyBanc Capital and JP Morgan Securities provide analysis on Progyny. None of them have issued short reports on the company.

Rosen Law, Schall Law, and the two other law firms are investigating claims on behalf of investors of Progyny, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNY) for violations of securities laws. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses. Rosen has ranked in the top four of securities class action firms nationwide each year since 2013 by ISS Securities Class Action Services. This ranking is based on the volume of settlements.  
David Sable, a former practicing fertility specialist who now manages a life sciences fund, said “occasionally these types of lawsuits are substantive and unearth malfeasance. Often, they are reverse-pump and dump schemes that cause brief movements in the stock if the firm (already having sold the stock short) can cover the short sale and make a profit.
“There is a well-oiled suing machine on Wall Street that responds to sudden stock drops by filing class action suits — they race to the courthouse to be first to file. The outcomes rarely benefit the shareholders; company boards sometimes pay a ‘settlement’ to make the nuisance suits go away,” he added. 
When reached by phone, Laurence Rosen of Rosen Law Firm said he does not comment on litigation. 

Jehoshaphat Research is operating anonymously, according to their website. 

Neither Progyny nor Jehoshaphat Research responded to requests for comment. 

The themes reported in this publication are those of of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

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They may even have patients in your area who are financially eligible but have not yet found a fertility provider. Contact BUNDL to see if they have IVF-ready patients in your area. 

 
 

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BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: CEO Pardew's Last Day At CCRM Friday

CCRM's is Second Fertility Network Chief to Step Down in as Many Months

 

BY RON SHINKMAN, special to Inside Reproductive Health

The chief executive officer and president of one of the nation’s largest fertility clinics is stepping down, Inside Reproductive Health has learned. It’s the second exit of a head of a large reproductive health  provider in recent weeks.

Jon Pardew’s last day with the Lone Tree, Colo.-based CCRM Fertility is scheduled for this Friday, Oct. 21, a source inside the company said. He has been working remotely for an unspecified period of time.

While an exact reason has not been discerned for Pardew’s departure, a source familiar with the situation said it was health-related but not life-threatening. Pardew and a CCRM spokesperson did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment.

The 51-year-old Pardew has led CCRM and its affiliate companies since October 2013. At the time, it operated single clinics in Colorado and Houston and was then known as the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.

CCRM Fertility has grown dramatically during Pardew’s tenure. It now operates 22 clinics in nine states, as well as two additional clinics in Canada. Its most recent acquisition occurred over the summer, when it acquired The Institute for Reproductive Medicine & Science (IRMS) , which has offices in both New York and New Jersey.

Revenue data for the privately-held CCRM Fertility, purchased by Unified Women's Healthcare from TA Associates in 2021, is not available, although GrowJo and ZoomInfo estimate it is between $75 million and $80 million per year.

Industry observers praised Pardew’s leadership.

“Jon was an incredibly thoughtful leader who approached his work as a service. He led the organization with incredible integrity and strength through the pandemic (and always),” said Carol Lynn Curchoe, a former IVF lab supervisor with CCRM Fertility, in an email. “I admire his authenticity greatly.”

Richard Groberg, a Las Vegas-based finance and private equity executive who has worked extensively in the reproductive health space, said in an email that Pardew was “dedicated and
fair.”

Prior to his tenure at CCRM, Pardew served as a managing director at St. Charles Capital, a Denver-based boutique venture capital firm, a plant manager for General Mills and as a U.S. Army officer.

No succession plans have been announced at CCRM Fertility, and Pardew is still listed as the CEO and president on the company’s website as well as his LinkedIn profile. A source said that a recruitment firm has been retained by CCRM Fertility to find Pardew’s successor.

Both Curchoe and Groberg said it would be tough finding a replacement of Pardew’s caliber, but that the company should still fare well.

Along with Pardew’s departure, Mark Segal announced in late September he was stepping down as CEO of US Fertility, which operates 69 locations nationwide. Richard Jennings, current CEO of Generate Life Sciences, will replace him. Jennings has already been named to the US Fertility board.

Segal’s last day is Dec. 31. He will become chairman of the US Fertility board of directors upon leaving the CEO post, which he has held since the company formed in 2020. He had been the CEO of Shady Grove Fertility since 1997.  “Mark has been a powerful force in shaping US Fertility and the reproductive industry,” said Jay Rose, a managing director at Amulet Capital and a US Fertility board member.

The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser

 
 

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External links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by Fertility Bridge or Inside Reproductive Health of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Neither Fertility Bridge nor Inside Reproductive Health bears responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.