Ferring Announces New Million Euro Educational Initiative with International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) and Elsevier

BUDAPEST, Hungary--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World leader in fertility treatments, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, announced today at the 2012 Updates in Infertility Treatment (UIT) meeting that the company will initiate a new educational initiative with the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) and publishing group Elsevier* to support a series of educational programmes and meetings. The IFFS is an international organisation representing over 70 national fertility societies.

“This agreement with Ferring will help secure this programme, and will take us a step towards ensuring that people in the developing world are not deprived of the right to have children simply through inadequate clinician education. We welcome this valuable contribution which Ferring is making towards clinical education”

Under the terms of this agreement, Ferring will provide over 1 million euros (€) over the next 3 years to help support greater access to infertility and reproductive health educational programmes and resources, especially in underserved and underdeveloped parts of the world. The funding will be for educational and scientific purposes and will not be directly related to any Ferring product.

“Access to fertility treatment is an international problem. In many parts of the world, perhaps especially where a large family is the norm, the inability to have children can be a real social stigma. For many years, the IFFS has been running a programme to educate reproductive health specialists in the developing world”, explained Professor David Healy IFFS President, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. “This agreement with Ferring will help secure this programme, and will take us a step towards ensuring that people in the developing world are not deprived of the right to have children simply through inadequate clinician education. We welcome this valuable contribution which Ferring is making towards clinical education”.

The biennial UIT meeting, initiated in 1994 with financial support from Ferring, has grown to become one of the leading international congresses in the area of infertility treatment, attracting approximately 900 experts from around the world.

The IFFS will use the Ferring grant to extend the reach of the scientific knowledge and expertise shared at scientific and educational meetings, such as the UIT. Chaired by Professor Paul Devroey, former Clinical Director of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine at the Free University of Brussels, this year’s UIT meeting focuses on some of the most important issues in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) today, including infertility assessment and prognosis, multiple pregnancies and treatment safety, the newest clinical trial data available from studies on treatment of infertility, genetics and cryopreservation of embryos.

“Infertility is one of Ferring’s most important areas and is one that has seen enormous progress”, explains Michel Pettigrew, President of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer of Ferring. “We are delighted to start this new educational partnership with the IFFS. Even though great progress has been made in ART, many challenges still remain as well as inequalities in the level of educational support in different parts of the world. This IFFS funding and on-going support underscores our continuing commitment to leadership in ART.”

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About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Headquartered in Switzerland, Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group active in global markets. The company identifies, develops and markets innovative products in the areas of reproductive health, urology, gastroenterology and endocrinology. Ferring has its own operating subsidiaries in 50 countries and markets its products in more than 90 countries. To learn more about Ferring or its products please visit www.ferring.com.

About the IFFS

The IFFS is the overarching international organisation encompassing the national fertility societies of close to 70 nations. Founded over 50 years ago, its mission is to stimulate basic and clinical research, disseminate education and encourage superior clinical care of patients in infertility and reproductive medicine.

* Current online Elsevier resource centres initiated with support from Ferring include:

• Robert Edwards Resource Centre, http://www.edwards.elsevierresource.com
• European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology resource centre, http://obstetricsgynecology.eu