Gameto, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on women’s health, has exclusively licensed intellectual property from Harvard University related to inducing meiosis in human cells. The IP builds on work conducted under Gameto’s sponsored research agreement with George Church’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
The licensed patent portfolio covers genes that, when activated, induce human cells to enter the early stages of meiosis – a developmental transition required for egg formation. Gameto says the technology could enable foundational research into in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) for patients unable to produce eggs, should IVG become a safe and viable option.
The company plans to integrate the meiosis-induction approach with its ovarian organoid (“ovaroid”) platform to model human ovarian development.
“These licenses meaningfully expand the scope and power of our ovaroid platform,” said Dr. Christian Kramme, Gameto’s Chief Scientific Officer. “We already have published how to genetically induce early germ cells, developed methods to generate highly functional ovarian support cells, and maintain those cells together in a stable developmental niche. Adding the ability to induce early meiosis lets us push these systems further and study stages of ovarian biology that have largely been inaccessible until now.”
Gameto says the platform is designed to support drug screening and development with potential applications in infertility, menopause, and primary ovarian insufficiency.
“Human ovarian biology has historically been one of the most difficult systems to study and drug,” said Dr. Dina Radenkovic Turner, CEO of Gameto. “This integrated approach gives us an unprecedented window into ovarian development and dysfunction, as well as a scalable engine for discovering and developing new therapies for women’s health.”
Gameto was founded by Dr. Radenkovic Turner and Martin Varsavsky, founder of fertility clinic network Inception Prelude. The company has raised $127 million and its lead program, Fertilo, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.
