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Sunday, July 8, 2018

Treatment Centers Authorized to Administer CAR T-Cell Therapy


The following medical facilities are certified to administer chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to eligible patients (as of May 16, 2018). However, not all of the centers administer both tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) and axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta). To identify the centers administering each product, a “T” or “A” has been placed after the center’s name. And, because new treatment centers may have been certified since publication, this may not be a complete listing of all treatment centers now authorized to perform CAR T-cell procedures.
Updated information for treatment centers certified to administer tisagenlecleucel is located at http://www.us.-kymriah.com/acute-lymphoblastic-leukemia-children/about-treatment/where-to-get-treatment. For updated information on treatment centers certified to administer axicabtagene ciloleucel, visit www.yescarta.com/-infusion.html.
MIDWEST
Illinois
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago; www.luriechildrens.org; T
Northwestern Medicine Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern, Chicago; http://cancer.northwestern.edu; A
University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago; www.uchospitals.edu/index.shtml; T/A
Kansas
University of Kansas Cancer Center, Westwood; www.kucancercenter.org; T
Michigan
Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor; www.uofmhealth.org; T
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit; www.karmanos.org/home; A
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor; www.karmanos.org; A
Minnesota
University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, Minneapolis; www.mhealth.org/locations/buildings/university-of-minnesota-masonic-childrens-hospital; T
Missouri
Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City; www.childrensmercy.org; T
The University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City; www.kucancercenter.org; A
Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis; www.barnesjewish.org/Medical-Services/Cancer-Center; A
Washington University School of Medicine Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Louis; siteman.wustl.edu/visiting/kids/; T
Nebraska
Nebraska Medicine, Omaha; www.nebraskamed.com; A
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; www.unmc.edu; A
Ohio
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati; www.cincinnatichildrens.org; T
Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, Cleveland; my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/cancer; A
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; Columbus; cancer.osu.edu; T/A
Wisconsin
Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network, Milwaukee; www.froedtert.com/cancer/network; A
UWHealth/American Family Children’s Hospital, Madison; www.uwhealthkids.org; T
NORTHEAST
Maryland
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center, Baltimore; www.hopkinsmedicine.org/johns-hopkins-childrens-center/patients-and-families/bloomberg-childrens-center/index.html; T
University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenbaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore; www.umms.org/umgccc; A
Massachusetts
Dana-Farber Boston Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Center, Boston; www.danafarberbostonchildrens.org; T
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston; www.brighamandwomens.org/cancer-center; A
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston; www.massgeneral.org/cancer/; A
New Jersey
Hackensack University Medical Center–John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack; www.hackensackumc.org/services/cancer-care/; A
Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack Meridian Health, Hackensack; www.hackensackumc.org/locations/joseph-m-sanzari-childrens-hospital/; T
New York
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York; www.mskcc.org; T/A
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo; www.roswellpark.org; A
UR Medicine Wilmot Cancer Institute, Rochester; www.urmc.rochester.edu/cancer-institute.aspx; A
Pennsylvania
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia; www.chop.edu; T
Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center, Philadelphia; www.pennmedicine.org/cancer; T
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh; hillman.upmc.com/find/locations/hillman-cancer-center-pittsburgh-pa; A
SOUTHEAST
Florida
Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa; moffitt.org; T/A
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Miami; sylvester.org; A
Georgia
Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta; www.choa.org/medical-services/cancer-and-blood-disorders; T
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta; winshipcancer.emory.edu; A
Tennessee
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville; ww2.mc.vanderbilt.edu; T/A
SOUTHWEST
Arizona
Banner Health, Gilbert; www.bannerhealth.com; A
Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix; www.phoenixchildrens.org; T
Texas
Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas–Texas Oncology, Dallas, Texas; www.texasoncology.com/-cancer-centers/dallas/baylor-charles-a-sammons/medical-oncology; A
Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Pauline Allen Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Dallas; www.childrens.com; T
Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston; www.houstonmethodist.org; T
Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston; www.texaschildrens.org; T
Texas Transplant Institute–Methodist Healthcare, San Antonio; sahealth.com/service/transplant-services; A
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston; www.mdanderson.org; T/A
WEST
California
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles; www.chla.org; T
City of Hope, Duarte; www.cityofhope.org/homepage; T/A
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto; www.stanfordchildrens.org; T
Stanford Health Care, Palo Alto; stanfordhealthcare.org; A
UCLA Health, Los Angeles; www.uclahealth.org; A
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco; www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org; T
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco; cancer.ucsf.edu; A
Colorado
Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora; www.childrenscolorado.org; T
Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, Denver; bloodcancerinstitute.com; A
Oregon
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland; bloodcancerinstitute.com; T
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Portland; www.ohsu.edu/health/cancer/index.html; A
Utah
Huntsman Cancer Hospital Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; healthcare.utah.edu/huntsmancancerinstitute/; T/A
Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City; intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/primary-childrens-hospital/; T
Washington
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle; www.seattlecca.org; A

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Weighing the Cost and Value of CAR T-Cell Therapy

How It Works. The above image illustrates the process of making CAR T cells for each individual patient from collecting the patient’s T cells from their blood, shipping the cells to the laboratory for modification and manufacturing, to infusing the engineered CAR-containing T cells into the…
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Benitec Biopharma in Global Licensing Agreement with Axovant


Benitec Announces Global Licensing Agreement for BB-301 for Treatment of Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy and Broad Platform Collaboration with Axovant
  • • Benitec to receive upfront cash payment of US$10 million with additional cash payments totalling US$17.5 million (a total of US$27.5M) upon completion of near-term milestones for BB-301, now named AXO-AAV-OPMD
  • • Benitec is potentially eligible for US$187.5 million in total payments upon the achievement of development, regulatory and commercial milestones on AXO-AAV-OPMD
  • • Benitec will retain 30% of the net profits on the worldwide sales of AXO-AAV-OPMD
  • • Benitec and Axovant to partner on the development of five additional gene therapy programs; Benitec to receive full research funding and be eligible for US$93.5 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones for each program
Sydney, Australia, 9 July 2018: Benitec Biopharma Limited (“Benitec” or the “Company”) (ASX:BLT; NASDAQ: BNTC; NASDAQ: BNTCW) today announced that it has licensed to Axovant Sciences (“Axovant”) the exclusive global rights for BB-301 (now named AXO-AAV-OPMD) intended for the treatment of oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), and has also entered into a fully funded research collaboration for the development of five additional gene therapy products in neurological disorders.
Under the terms of the agreement, Benitec will receive an upfront cash payment of US$10 million and additional cash payments totaling US$17.5 million upon completion of four specific near-term manufacturing, regulatory and clinical milestones. Axovant has been granted worldwide rights to AXO-AAV-OPMD and will assume all future development costs. The total potential value of all of the development, regulatory and commercial milestones achievable by Benitec, of which there are eight milestones including the four near-term milestones, is US$187.5 million. Benitec, working in partnership with Axovant over the next few years, hopes to achieve all eight milestones and thus realize the maximum amount of US$187.5 million. There can be no assurance as to the total amount of payments that the Company will actually receive or when they will be received. Importantly, upon commercialization, Benitec will retain 30% of the net profits on worldwide sales of AXO-AAV-OPMD.
Jerel Banks, MD PhD, Executive Chairman, Benitec Biopharma commented on today’s news, “Today marks a milestone for Benitec as we believe this transaction to be transformative for our company. In addition to bolstering our opportunity to drive broad-based, clinically meaningful patient benefit across several areas of clinical medicine with true unmet need, this partnership significantly enhances the financial, intellectual, and clinical development resources available to facilitate our efforts to build Benitec into a diversified biopharmaceutical company. The non-dilutive capital expected over the near term will allow Benitec to continue to invest in proprietary R&D programs across a range of indications.”
Dr. Banks continued, “Our management team is focused exclusively on expanding the research, development, and commercial opportunities for the core ‘silence-and-replace’platform with the dual goals of enhancing patient benefit and generating shareholder value. We believe Axovant is the idealpartner to advance our OPMD program, and we look forward to working closely with them to develop AXO-AAV-OPMD as we quickly progress towards clinical trials in 2019.”
OPMD is a rare progressive, and often fatal, muscle-wasting disease caused by mutation in the poly(A)-binding protein nuclear 1 (PABPN1) gene, that is characterized by eyelid drooping, swallowing difficulties, and proximal limb weakness. AXO-AAV-OPMD is a single vector, gene therapy construct system that uses a unique “Silence-and-Replace” methodology that employs DNA directed RNA interference (ddRNAi) to silence expression of the mutant gene associated with OPMD, while simultaneously expressing a copy of the normal, healthy version of the same gene to restore the function of that gene. Axovant plans to initiate a placebo-controlled clinical study in 2019 in which a one-time intramuscular administration AXO-AAV-OPMD will be given to patients to treat the dysphagia associated with OPMD.
Commenting on the agreement, Pavan Cheruvu, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Axovant said, “The ‘silence-and-replace’ platform is a targeted approach which directly addresses the underlying genetic cause of diseases arising from expression of dysfunctional proteins, including those caused by nucleotide repeat expansion. I am excited about the potential of this platform for patients suffering from OPMD, many of whom have limited treatment options today.”
In addition to AXO-AAV-OPMD, Axovant and Benitec will collaborate on a total of five additional investigational gene therapy products for neurological disorders, with Axovant fully funding each of the research programs. Axovant will have exclusive global rights to products developed under these programs. The first additional investigational gene therapy product will focus on developing a single vector “Silence-and-Replace” gene therapy product targeting the c9orf72 gene, which is associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In addition to receiving funding for development of the new research programs, each new research program target is eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestones totaling US$93.5 million and tiered royalties on global sales. There can be no assurance as to the total amount of payments that the Company will actually receive or when they will be received.
Dr. Banks concluded, “We are extremely excited about Axovant’s collaborative andfinancial commitments to these five additional research programs as it plants the seeds for a long and robust partnership between our organizations. This partnership provides Benitec with an extraordinarily rare opportunity to unambiguously demonstrate the exceptional breadth of the scientific, clinical, and commercial applications of the ‘silence-and-replace’ platform. Additionally, the non-dilutive capital expected by Benitec over the near term will be used to fund operations as we will continue to innovate and strengthen our platform. I look forward to making future announcements on our joint progress with Axovant as well as on other material developments.”
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Biotech week ahead, May 9


Biotech stocks held their ground in a holiday-shortened week amid a drought of market-moving catalysts.
Looking ahead, the following are catalytic events for biotech investors to watch.

Conferences

  • Fourth International Conference on Neurological Disorders & Stroke: July 9-10 in Sydney, Australia.
  • 15th International Conference on Digestive Disorders and Gastroenterology: July 11-12 in Sydney, Australia.
  • 13th International Conference on Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine: July 12-13 in Paris, France.
  • Hematologists Global Summit 2018: July 13-14 in Sydney, Australia.
  • Third International Conference on Ophthalmology: July 10-11 in Bangkok, Thailand.
  • 12th International Conference on Pediatric, Perinatal and Diagnostic Pathology: July 13-14 in Toronto, Canada.
  • International Conference on Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics: July 13-14 in Toronto, Canada.
  • Annual Congress on Mental Health: July 9-11 in Paris, France.

PDUFA Dates

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY 1.05%‘s sBLA for its Opdivo-Yervoy combination for treating adults with microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair-deficient metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan will come up before the FDA, with the agency set to rule July 10 on the application.

Adcom Meeting Schedule

FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee is set to discuss GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) GSK 0.72%‘s NDA for the tafenoquine tablet in a 150-milligram dosage for prevention of relapse of Plasmodium vivax malaria July 12.

Clinical Trials

Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc ZYNE 6% is set to present Phase 2 data for ZYN002 in Fragile X syndrome. The data released last September showed that the study met the primary endpoint.

Early Q3 Release

Altimmune Inc ALT 3.74% is set to release Phase 1 data for its anthrax therapy Nasoshield.

Mid-2018 Releases

GlaxoSmithKline is likely to release Phase 2b data for its anti-SAP mAb, chemically dezamizumab, which is being tested for amyloidosis.
Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc BLPH will release interim analysis of Phase 3 data for its INOpulse delivery device meant to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.
BIOLINERX Ltd/S ADR BLRX 0.98% is set to release Phase 3 results from the GENESIS clinical trial, which evaluates its BL-8040 for the mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells used for autologous transplantation in multiple myeloma patients.
Celgene Corporation CELG 2.55% and Acceleron Pharma Inc XLRN 1.02% are likely to release Phase 3 data for the b-thalassemia treatment Luspatercept, based on the BELIEVE trial.

IPO Quiet Period Expirations

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc VRCA 0.25%, which debuted on Nasdaq June 15 following a 5-million-share IPO at $15 per share, will see its IPO quiet period expire.
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Sports safety: Not just child’s play


Playing sports offers plenty of fitness and other developmental benefits for kids, but injuries are common. Every year, more than 2.6 million U.S. children aged 19 and under are treated in the ER for sports- and recreation-related injuries.
If your child plays team sports, start by vetting the qualifications of the coaches.
A questionnaire-based study by the American Council on Exercise found common knowledge gaps among youth-sports coaches — many of whom are volunteers — in the areas of proper hydration, strength training, nutrition and concussions. For instance, many didn’t know about “second impact syndrome” — when a second concussion occurs before the first one has healed, a potentially fatal situation.
Make sure your kids learn and practice skills they need for their sport. Proper form helps prevent injuries. If your child isn’t in condition for the activity or is new to it, he or she needs to start slowly, ideally by preparing in the off-season for at least four weeks. Developing strong legs in particular will help protect knees and ankles.
Check that your young athletes have — and wear — properly fitted protective gear appropriate for their activity, such as helmets to prevent concussions, wrist guards, knee or elbow pads. And regularly check that the equipment is in good condition.
Wearing a helmet is a must for:
  • Batting and running bases in baseball or softball.
  • Playing a contact sport, such as football or hockey.
  • Riding a bike, snowmobile or ATV.
  • Skiing and snowboarding.
  • Using inline skates, a skateboard or scooter.
  • Horseback riding.
Also, pay attention to the weather. Kids need time to adjust to heat and humidity when playing outdoors to avoid both injury and illness. Make sure they drink the right amount of water and are dressed for the conditions.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more detailed information for parents to help prevent a traumatic brain injury in kids of all ages.
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Heart Assn: Health benefits of soccer


As both a soccer mom and fanatic, Dr. Mercedes Carnethon knows why soccer is the world’s favorite sport.
It’s super easy to play.
“All it takes is a ball and a little bit of space,” said Carnethon, an epidemiologist.
With fervor rising as World Cup contenders knock each other out of the tournament, soccer enthusiasts are proudly wearing their fanaticism on their sleeves. And with good reason: Not only is soccer fun, it’s also good for you.
The obvious benefits are related to the aerobic activity generated on the field.
“It is a game of continuous running and with very little stopping,” said Carnethon, an associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. “It also has anaerobic elements — that high intensity where you’re sprinting and then resting — you’re constantly moving.”
Sports researcher Peter Krustrup, who has spent more than 15 years studying the health benefits of soccer, said that recreational-level play and soccer-related exercise drills can help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. Soccer also can help shift body composition by decreasing fat and increasing lean muscle.
And most of these benefits can take effect after just 12 to 16 weeks of training, he said.
Soccer is “a multipurpose sport” that combines endurance, strength and high-intensity interval training all at once, said Krustrup, a professor of sport and health sciences at the University of Southern Denmark.
“Basically, it takes the best of three worlds,” he said. “It’s as good as interval running, when it comes to the cardio training, and it’ as good as long-distance jogging or cycling, when it comes to endurance. It’s also as good as lifting weights when it comes to the musculoskeletal benefits.”
Another advantage soccer has over other sports is that it easily allows players of all skill levels and ages, said Krustrup, who has been researching older players, including some first-timers in their 80s. His findings discovered these older rookie players get the same type of health benefits as those who have played for decades.
Regular physical activity, whether from soccer or other types of exercise, can ease many of the underlying ailments people suffer from today, Carnethon said.
“Heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases don’t develop overnight. They develop after many years of accumulation of unhealthy lifestyle habits,” she said. “Another benefit [of soccer] is that it can be a lifelong sport.”
Soccer is often the entry into team sports for children, primarily because it’s inexpensive, it keeps them constantly active, and it requires less technical skills than a sport like basketball or baseball, Carnethon noted.
“Part of preventing these chronic diseases that develop over decades is maintaining a healthy lifestyle from youth, even from late toddlerhood on,” she said. “For many, soccer can help build the mindset of a healthy lifestyle from a young age.”
Pierre Barrieu, the sports performance director for the Major League Soccer team LA Galaxy, said another benefit soccer provides is the tremendous mental boost that accompanies the built-in camaraderie.
“This is a game designed to be played with a team. Not many sports are played 11 to 11, so there’s a social aspect in soccer that you may not find in some other sports,” he said.
Soccer is such an all-around healthy sport that even simply watching from the stands can require a level of endurance, Barrieu said.
“When you go to stadiums, the fans are the ones bringing the atmosphere. They are incredibly active. There is no kiss cam. There is no dance cam,” he said. “If you watch the games at the World Cup, the fans are the ones out there on their feet. They are sweating, some as much as the players in the game.”
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Cost keeps many from getting hearing aids


 A hearing aid can set you back as much as $7,000, and that’s the main reason more Americans don’t use one, a new study finds.
The report also suggests that many people are too embarrassed to wear one.
No matter the reason, it’s troubling, one study author said, because poor hearing can hurt people in many ways.
“Unaddressed hearing loss can affect one’s psychosocial, physical and cognitive [brain] health,” said study lead author Dr. Michael McKee.
“Furthermore, hearing loss is tied with unemployment and reduced incomes, so by not addressing the hearing loss, it is possible that those who are unable to acquire hearing aids will be made even worse off down the road,” he added.
McKee is an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan.
Only about one-third of hearing-impaired Americans over age 55 use a hearing aid, the study found. Use of the devices is even less common among older blacks, Hispanics, people with less education and the poor.
“In many cases, these groups were less than half as likely to use hearing aids compared to those with higher wealth, education and whites,” McKee noted.
Hearing aids cost anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000 out of pocket. Most insurance — including Medicare — doesn’t cover them.
By their 50s, roughly three in 10 Americans experience hearing loss. That rises to 45 percent among those in their 60s; nearly 70 percent among 70-year-olds; and nearly 90 percent among octogenarians.
To track hearing aid use, the researchers reviewed data from a survey of 35,000 men and women aged 55 and older, all of whom reported hearing loss. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 patients.
The interviews found that cost, lack of insurance coverage, vanity or stigma were common reasons for not using hearing aids. The participants also cited a lack of attention to hearing loss by their primary care provider and worries about finding a trustworthy audiologist.
Just 15 percent of respondents in their late 50s said they used hearing aids, compared with 57 percent among those in their late 80s, the findings showed.
Hearing aid use also differed by race, the investigators found. About 40 percent of white patients used hearing aids, compared with about 18 percent of black patients, and 21 percent of Hispanics.
Education gaps were evident, too. Over 45 percent of study participants who had gone to college wore a hearing aid, compared to less than 29 percent of respondents who hadn’t finished high school.
Among the poorest respondents, about one-quarter wore a hearing aid compared to nearly half of the highest earners.
That said, hearing-impaired military veterans between 55 and 64 were twice as likely to use a hearing aid than their non-vet peers. Why? Because veterans benefits often cover the cost.
Still, Jackie Clark, president of the American Academy of Audiology, said that although price is an obstacle, it’s not the only problem.
“The reason people are averse to hearing aids is pretty complex, multi-dimensional and culturally influenced,” Clark said.
Moreover, the science of hearing is still relatively young, she noted. It took off only after World War II, when many veterans returned with hearing harmed by exposure to exploding bombs.
“I often like to remind people that it took over 100 years for the adoption of eye glasses to attain good vision,” Clark said.
It was only once good eyesight became an indispensable feature of modern life that “the glasses industry went from almost non-existent to almost complete uptake,” Clark added.
So what can be done to encourage broader acceptance of hearing aids?
Besides ensuring that insurance covers their cost, McKee said people need to be reminded about how helpful hearing aids could be.
“Public announcement programs highlighting the benefits of addressing your hearing loss could help,” he said. “We need to engage celebrities who wear hearing aids to show that having one does not make one appear uncool or less able.”
McKee and his colleagues reported their findings in a recent issue of The Gerontologist.
More information
There’s more on seniors and hearing loss at the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
SOURCES: Michael McKee, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of family medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Jackie Clark, Ph.D., president, American Academy of Audiology, and clinical professor, School of Behavioral & Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas/Callier Center; May 21, 2018, The Gerontologist
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Men, not careers, prompt women to freeze eggs


Women who choose to have their eggs frozen aren’t necessarily putting off having children because they’re laser-focused on their careers, new research suggests.
It’s more likely that a lack of a stable, fulfilling relationship is what’s behind those decisions, the Yale study authors found.
The study of 150 women undergoing egg freezing in the United States or Israel found that 85 percent of the women didn’t have a partner. Of those who did have a partner, they reported that their partner wasn’t ready or refused to have children, or the relationship was new or uncertain.
“The portrayal of egg-freezing women as selfish ‘careerists’ is incorrect,” said study author Marcia Inhorn, a professor of anthropology at Yale.
“Most of these women are successful professionals, but they’ve been looking for committed relationships and have been unable to find them. Thus, partnership problems, not career planning, is by far the main reason for egg freezing at the present time,” she said.
Elective egg freezing is a relatively new technology that uses a process to fast-freeze the eggs. In 2013, around 5,000 egg-freezing cycles were performed in the United States. In 2018, it’s predicted that number will be about 76,000, the researchers said.
Dr. Tomer Singer is director of the egg freezing program at Northwell Health Fertility in Manhasset, N.Y. He said the several-week process begins with hormone shots to stimulate and ripen the eggs, and then a trigger shot when it’s time to retrieve the eggs.
During the egg retrieval, the patient receives light sedation. The doctor uses ultrasound to guide the retrieval, which is done through the vagina so no incision is needed. Singer said the procedure takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and usually the woman can go home about an hour later.
Each cycle of egg retrieval costs about $5,000 to $15,000, depending on the center, Singer said. The cost of the drugs adds another $2,000 to $6,000. And, storage of the eggs costs between $500 and $1,000 a year after the first year, he added.
Insurance often won’t pay for egg freezing. However, Singer said some large companies are choosing to offer it as an option to their employees.
It’s not yet clear what the optimal number of eggs to freeze is. The researchers said that based on the data that’s available now, it appears that women under 35 might want to freeze 10 to 12 eggs. They recommend that women over 35 freeze about 20 eggs for the best chance of getting pregnant later.
Singer said that each cycle of egg freezing can result in between three and 30 eggs, though between five and 20 is more typical. He added that the doctor can usually estimate with a blood test or transvaginal ultrasound how many eggs they’ll be able to retrieve. That means women can decide to go ahead with egg retrieval or not that cycle, saving money if it looks like only a few eggs will be retrieved.
The women in the survey were between the ages of 29 and 42. But Inhorn said most — 73 percent — were between 35 and 39.
The women in the United States were mostly from the East Coast (Boston to Washington, D.C.) and the San Francisco Bay Area. In Israel, the women were mainly from Tel Aviv and Haifa, Inhorn said.
Choosing to freeze eggs because of career planning was the least common option chosen by women who didn’t have a partner.
The researchers noted little difference in reasons for freezing eggs between the women in the United States and Israel. But Inhorn noted that it’s possible that women’s reasons for freezing eggs in other countries may be different.
Singer said the findings mirror what he’s been seeing in practice. “It’s becoming more routine for women to come in because they can’t find a partner, or they’re not so comfortable with where they are in their relationship. They may not be so quick to think they’ll find Mr. Right soon, and egg freezing gives women options. It’s a back-up option,” he explained.
Inhorn presented the findings Monday at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting in Barcelona. Findings presented at meetings are typically viewed as preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
Learn more about egg freezing from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
SOURCES: Marcia Inhorn, Ph.D., William K. Lanman, Jr. professor of anthropology and international affairs, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; Tomer Singer, M.D., director, reproductive endocrinology, Lenox Hill Hospital, and director, egg freezing program, Northwell Health Fertility, Manhasset, N.Y.; July 2, 2018, presentation, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology meeting, Barcelona
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