Ovo Labs has disclosed preclinical data for its lead therapeutic, EmbryoProtect 1, at Fertility 2026, the UK’s largest fertility conference. The London and Munich-based biotech company reported that treatment increased the proportion of viable human eggs from approximately 47% to 71% in a study of over 100 eggs from patients aged 22 to 43.
The company describes this as the first demonstration of egg rejuvenation in human eggs in vitro. EmbryoProtect is designed to be injected into eggs during the standard IVF process to reverse age-related damage.
Egg quality is a significant factor in IVF outcomes. By age 40, more than 70% of eggs are estimated to carry chromosomal abnormalities, making egg aging the leading cause of infertility, miscarriage, and chromosomal conditions.
“Women do not produce new eggs in adulthood and must instead rely on the limited reserve established before birth. Because eggs are some of the fastest-ageing cells in the human body, signs of egg ageing can already be detected in women in their early 30s. This accelerates even further by the time a woman reaches her 40s,” said Prof. Melina Schuh, Director at the Max Planck Institute and co-founder of Ovo Labs. “The initial results of our pre-clinical study show that EmbryoProtect can intervene to successfully reverse damage caused by ageing which would make IVF more effective for all couples, but particularly in women of advanced reproductive age. While egg rejuvenation has been successfully carried out in model organisms before, this is the first time it’s been undertaken using human eggs in vitro.”
Prof. Antonio Pellicer, founder of IVI RMA, the world’s largest IVF clinic chain, said: “For decades, we have understood that poor egg quality is the main reason IVF often fails – especially in women over 35 – but we have had no way to address this. What Ovo Labs is doing with EmbryoProtect is scientifically grounded and could not be more clinically relevant. If validated in clinical trials, it has the potential to deliver the biggest improvement in IVF success rates we have seen in decades.”
Dr. Agata Zielinska, Ovo Labs co-CEO, added: “We’ve been hugely encouraged by the results from this study and the next step would be to complete the required safety and toxicity studies in-house at our fully-established research facility to enable the first clinical trials. We would then be able to bring EmbryoProtect to patients, effectively extending the female reproductive age span.”
Ovo Labs was founded in 2025 by Schuh, Zielinska, and Dr. Oleksandr Yagensky. The company builds on more than two decades of research from Schuh’s laboratory, which has analyzed eggs from over 1,000 women undergoing IVF.
