Infertility Treatment Start-up Celmatix raises 5.5M for its precision medicine approach to IVF
Celmatix, an infertility treatment company has recently raised $5.5 million, raising a total of $13 million since 2009 - mostly from private equity firm Topspin Partners and angel investors. The startup's main product is Polaris, which calculates the likelihood of success using different fertility treatment options and web based modelling. The product gives a side-by-side comparison of the treatment methods and their success chance for the patient. Next year Celmatix will release Polaris X which will be a companion diagnostic for Polaris. Celmatix's partners include Washington University and a number of reproductive medical in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.
Is there an underlying genetic predictor for infertility? New York precision medicine startup Celmatix argues yes, and is using a big data- and genomics-driven approach to help women “optimize” their fertility – using predictive modeling to better understand a woman’s potential to conceive.

Celmatix just raised $5.5 million, according to a regulatory filing. It’s raised about $13 million in total since its 2009 launch – largely from private equity firm Topspin Partners and an assortment of angel investors.

Understanding the causes of infertility is of great importance to many – in the U.S. alone, 6.7 million women have difficulty getting pregnant, according to the CDC.

Celmatix’s lead product, Polaris, was developed to calculate a woman’s likelihood of success using different fertility treatment options. Its web-based modeling generates a side-by-side comparison of a patient’s likelihood to conceive with timed intercourse, non-IVF and IVF.

Next year it’ll launch Polaris X, a companion genetic diagnostic for the Polaris platform that shows subclinical factors that impact fertility. The Celmatix researchers have found some interesting things – such as the fact that up to 25 percent of IVF patients discontinue treatment even though they still have a good chance of conceiving. Celmatix researchers have also found that mutations that lead to degeneration of egg quality are the main reason that IVF fails.

Celmatix has a number of partnerships in place – such as with Washington University in St. Louis, University of Connecticut and a number of reproductive medicine clinics in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.