Recombinant Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (Follitropin Beta, Puregon) Yields Higher Pregnancy Rates in In Vitro Fertilization than Urinary Gonadotropins☆☆☆

Objective: To assess ongoing pregnancy rates (PRs) in IVF after treatment with recombinant FSH (follitropin beta, Puregon; NV Organon, Oss, The Netherlands) as compared with urinary gonadotropins. Design: A combined analysis of three prospective, multicenter, randomized, comparative trials. Setting: Twenty-five IVF centers in 13 countries. Patient(s): Six hundred ninety-seven infertile women receiving recombinant FSH and 463 women receiving hMG or urinary FSH and undergoing one cycle of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and IVF-ET. Intervention(s): A center-based and study-based analysis weighing the treatment differences in individual centers and studies, respectively. Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy rate at least 12 weeks after ET per started cycle. Result(s): In the center-based analysis, the ongoing PR was 22.9% for recombinant FSH and 17.9% for urinary gonadotropins. The 5.0% treatment difference (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2% to 9.7%) was significant. When the results of the cryoprogram were included, the treatment difference increased to 6.4% (95% CI, 1.4% to 11.3%). Also in the study-based analysis, significantly higher PRs were seen after follitropin beta treatment. Conclusion(s): Follitropin beta (Puregon) used for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation in IVF yields significantly higher PRs compared with urinary gonadotropins.