Ferring Pharmaceuticals targets IVF innovation with US$1.38B Gameto acquisition in Switzerland
The deal also gives Ferring access to early-stage cell therapies and research models targeting other women’s health needs.
SWITZERLAND—Ferring Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire US reproductive health startup Gameto for up to US$1.38 billion to expand its fertility treatment portfolio and strengthen its position in women’s health.
The proposed acquisition centres on Gameto’s lead programme, Fertilo, an in vitro maturation (IVM) technology designed to simplify fertility treatment by reducing the need for prolonged hormone injections.
The deal also gives Ferring access to early-stage cell therapies and research models targeting other women’s health needs.
Fertilo targets shorter fertility treatment
Conventional in vitro fertilisation (IVF) typically requires patients to receive hormone injections for 10 to 14 days to stimulate ovarian follicles and support egg development before retrieval.
The process can impose financial and logistical demands on patients, while carrying treatment-related risks.
Fertilo uses engineered ovarian support cells to help immature eggs mature outside the body.
Gameto says the approach could cut the treatment preparation period for IVF and egg freezing from about 14 days to three, potentially reducing the burden on patients and improving access to fertility services.
The technology is available to clinics in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, while its US development programme remains in an advanced clinical stage.
Gameto is conducting the Phase III FIRST trial (NCT06858111), which compares Fertilo with CooperSurgical’s Medicult IVM technology.
For Ferring, the acquisition could strengthen its position in reproductive medicine as fertility providers explore alternatives to conventional ovarian stimulation.
However, wider adoption will depend on clinical evidence, regulatory decisions, treatment costs, and clinics’ ability to integrate the technology into existing care pathways.
Acquisition adds early-stage women’s health programmes
Beyond Fertilo, the transaction includes Gameto’s broader development pipeline.
Ameno is a preclinical cell therapy programme designed to address the effects of menopause through hormone regulation, while Deovo is a discovery-stage organoid model of the female reproductive system intended to support research.
These programmes would broaden Ferring’s research capabilities beyond fertility treatment and create opportunities to develop products for additional stages of women’s reproductive health.
Ferring already markets Menopur, an injectable menotropin treatment used in assisted reproduction.
The company identified the fertility drug as a key financial growth driver in 2025, alongside Adstiladrin, a gene therapy for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Adding Gameto could therefore reinforce an established commercial area while extending its longer-term development pipeline.
Women’s health investment gains momentum
The proposed acquisition comes amid growing attention to the longstanding funding and research gaps in women’s health.
At the 2026 Women’s Health Week Europe conference, industry experts highlighted policy changes affecting clinical and post-marketing data collection, alongside increased investment in women’s health businesses across the UK and Europe in 2025.
However, the World Economic Forum has reported that women’s health attracts only 6% of private healthcare investment.
Of that funding, approximately 90% goes to women’s cancers, reproductive health and maternal health.
Conference discussions also emphasised the need for more representative clinical data to support the development of safe, effective treatments, along with greater engagement with investors and policymakers to expand funding across underserved areas of women’s health.
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