Mirvie's technology can now predict severe growth restriction in pregnancy - a leading cause of stillbirth
Mirvie RNA platform first to uncover a unique molecular signal for babies at risk
The women’s health start-up Mirvie has announced that its technology can now predict severe growth restriction in pregnancy.
Announced at the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine annual meeting, Mirvie revealed that its Mirvie RNA platform has uncovered a unique molecular signature predictive for babies born with severe growth restriction.
Unrecognized fetal growth restriction is the single largest risk factor for stillbirth. After examining more than 5,000 geographically and demographically diverse pregnancies, Mirvie’s RNA platform successfully predicted 60% of babies with severe fetal growth restriction months in advance of delivery.
This is a significant improvement over the current standard of care because current clinical risk factors used today, like advanced maternal age, maternal height, smoking status, and obesity are not predictive.
It means that going forward more at-risk pregnancies will be able to be identified using a simple blood test during weeks 18-22 of pregnancy.
Dr. Kara Rood is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and principal investigator of the study who presented the findings. She said:
“There’s a large unmet need to better identify babies most at risk for stillbirth and other negative outcomes as indicated by poor growth because the majority are undiagnosed before birth.”
“Approximately 70% of babies with severe growth restriction - characterized as babies in the <third percentile for growth and at highest risk for stillbirth - are missed by a standard ultrasound. This leads to overtreatment and extra monitoring for those who don’t need it and insufficient monitoring and intervention for those who do. These novel findings powered by the Mirvie RNA platform are exciting and helping the field achieve this goal.”
A new standard of care
The Mirvie RNA Platform found severe growth restriction has a unique RNA signature independent of preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, and gestational diabetes, all of which can impact fetal growth.
“Similar to the breakthroughs that propelled the molecular understanding of breast cancer in the 1990s, obstetrics can now move towards a new standard of care based on the molecular characteristics of each pregnancy,” said Maneesh Jain, CEO and co-founder of Mirvie. “
With the Mirvie RNA Platform, we can move toward a proactive and personalized care approach in maternal health that focuses on preventing serious pregnancy complications.”
The novel findings add to the growing body of research demonstrating the use of the Mirvie RNA platform to predict pregnancy complications months before symptoms appear, including preeclampsia risk prediction in Nature and preterm birth risk prediction in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“At a molecular level, we now understand how biology impacts which pregnancies are at highest risk for poor outcomes,” said Dr. Thomas McElrath, vice president of clinical development at Mirvie and a practicing maternal-fetal medicine physician at Brigham Women’s Hospital.
“This breakthrough removes the bias and variability associated with clinical risk factors and assessments currently used to determine which babies may be at highest risk for fetal growth restriction. With a worsening maternal health crisis, we need innovative tools like Mirvie’s RNA platform to change the status quo and create better outcomes for mothers and babies.”
Serious complications impact one in five pregnancies in the U.S., and Mirvie’s mission is creating a world where every pregnancy is as safe and healthy as possible. It works towards a personalized, predictive, and preventive approach to serious pregnancy complications. Mirvie is backed by top-tier investors including Blackrock, Decheng Capital, Foresite Capital, General Catalyst, GV, Khosla Ventures, and Mayfield.