Fertile testing ground

Research from Massachusetts General Hospital suggests the sex differentiation hormone AMH could be used to protect egg reserves in female cancer patients by keeping ovarian follicles quiet during chemotherapy. The scientists behind the work have spun out Provulis LLC to commercialize the findings, and are gearing up for an IND on their lead compound PRV100 in the next two years.

The compound is an engineered version of AMH that company founders Patricia Donahoe and David Pépin developed to overcome the endogenous protein’s manufacturing challenges. Donahoe is a professor of surgery and Pépin is associate professor of surgery at MGH...