Home ultrasound developer Pulsenmore has secured a multimillion-dollar contract to supply its home ultrasound device for self-examination of follicles in IVF (in vitro fertilization) and fertility preservation processes to Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest healthcare organization.
Under the terms of the agreement, Clalit Health Services is expected to purchase thousands of units with a minimum annual order over the course of four years, at a total of approximately $11 million.
This is the second agreement Pulsenmore has secured with Clalit, following an earlier contract to provide the organization with its flagship home device for fetal ultrasound, Pulsenmore ES, including an initial order of $6 million. The device was immediately rolled out to Clalit patients and to date, almost 15,000 Pulsenmore home ultrasound scans have been performed by pregnant women and reviewed by Clalit’s healthcare professionals.
Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein, CEO of Pulsenmore: “Our latest contract with Clalit Health Services is a significant accomplishment for Pulsenmore and most of all we are pleased that it will be of great significance for thousands of women from Clalit’s fertility clinics coping with the hardships of IVF and fertility preservation treatments.”
The standard IVF procedure requires numerous ultrasound scans – sometimes daily – for the assessment of follicle size and endometrial thickness, which are critical parameters in determining optimal timing for retrieving eggs for fertilization. The new follicular tracking ultrasound device, Pulsenmore FC, will enable Clalit’s fertility patients to perform ultrasound scans at home, which are then viewed and assessed remotely by her healthcare professional.
The solution is well aligned with consumers and healthcare providers seeking and adopting more virtual and hybrid care models. The shift to home scanning with the Pulsenmore FC device will significantly reduce the number of clinic and hospital visits for these scans, and will enable patients to perform them in the comfort and privacy of home and at their own convenience.
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, IVF clinics in Israel and worldwide were forced to shut down (as discussed in a paper published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online), leaving patients stranded at critical moments of treatment cycles potentially missing precious opportunities for egg retrieval and fertilization. Such occurrences could be prevented in the future with the Pulsenmore FC solution.
Over 2.5 million IVF cycles are performed worldwide each year, according to research published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, of which some 50,000 are in Israel alone, and Pulsenmore expects its potential market for the device to be approximately 60% of women undergoing IVF globally.
Dr. Sonnenschein: “Our unique expertise in ultrasound technology is playing a key role in the global home care revolution. We are working at full speed to execute our business strategy, expand sales, and complete a series of clinical trials for additional ultrasound applications that are being developed at Pulsenmore. Our solutions are major pillars in the global trend adopting more extensive remote healthcare capabilities and transforming them into the new standard of care. Our company, product and technology enable us to continue bringing value to the public and to shareholders.”