ANDROTEST · Point of care test for non invasive differential diagnosis of obstrutive and non-obstructive azoospermia in male fertility

The project ANDROTEST aims at the development of a non-invasive point-of-care device for the differential diagnosis ofobstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia (medical condition of a man not having any measurable level of sperm in hissemen) in male infertility cases. Human infertility affects about 25% of couples. For many years, it was thought that infertilitywas a “woman thing”. Nowadays it is well known that infertility is not such a woman thing, being estimated that in 40-50% ofinfertility cases, the issue is on the man’s side. One of the most severe forms of male infertility is azoospermia, which ischaracterized by an absence of sperm in the semen. Azoospermia is diagnosed in 20% of subfertile men and has twoforms: obstructive azoospermia (OA) and non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). OA is caused by a physical obstruction in themale reproductive tract. NOA is a more complicated infertility syndrome with the azoospermia being secondary to a failure toproduce sperm. For most men with azoospermia, testicular biopsy is currently the only method to definitively distinguishbetween OA and NOA. Testicular biopsy is a surgical intervention procedure to remove a small sample of tissue from one orboth testicles for further examination under a microscope. The procedure has to be performed by a surgeon or an urologistin an operating room and under local anaesthesia. It is therefore, an invasive procedure that implies significant costs for thehealthcare systems and that needs more than 2 weeks to deliver the results, because of the need for expert evaluation ofthe sampled tissue. The invasiveness of the procedure, the elevated costs and the long times needed to deliver the results,sustain the urgent need for an alternative non-invasive and faster approach with better diagnostic potential at lower costs.This need is the one we have identified as a huge business opportunity we seek embracing.