Continued development of Oviva’s platform to initially focus on improving IVF results for women with diminished ovarian reserve.
Women’s health biotech Granata Bio has announced the acquisition of female reproductive longevity company Oviva Therapeutics. The move aims to strengthen Granata’s position in reproductive medicine, adding a novel therapeutic platform aimed at enhancing female healthspan through the modulation of ovarian biology. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2021 as a pipeline company within longevity biotech Cambrian BioPharma, Oviva was established to improve the experience of aging in women through biomedical innovation to preserve and extend ovarian function. The company raised $11.5 million in seed funding and secured exclusive intellectual property rights from Massachusetts General Hospital to develop therapeutics targeting ovarian function. Its ultimate goal – to extend not just the reproductive years of women, but also improve their overall health and quality of life as they age.
Oviva’s lead candidate, OVI-586, is a recombinant form of Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH), designed to enhance ovarian reserve and function. As ovaries are typically the first organ to show signs of aging, their decline has far-reaching consequences for a woman’s overall health. Reduced ovarian reserve is not only a major factor in the onset of menopause but also contributes to broader health risks including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, metabolic dysfunction and neurocognitive decline. OVI-586 addresses these challenges by acting at the earliest stages of follicle development, where AMH plays a critical role in preserving the pool of available follicles, thereby potentially extending the reproductive and endocrine functionality of the ovaries.
“This is a big day for women’s health,” said Cambrian CEO James Peyer. “We’re thrilled about this acquisition and looking forward to seeing Oviva’s OVI-586 progress to the next stage of development under Granata’s leadership.”
Boston-based Granata Bio has built a portfolio of fertility-focused therapies, and its CEO Evan Sussman told us that the company initially plans to focus on applying OVI-586 as a neoadjuvant treatment in in vitro fertilization (IVF), targeting women with diminished ovarian reserve.
According to Sussman, this approach is due to “very few effective options” being available for patients with premature ovarian insufficiency, and because “IVF stimulation represents an acute, time-limited intervention, making it a natural starting point before expanding into longer-term indications.”
The new Granata program will be supported by Oviva co-founders Dr David Pepin, who will continue as its scientific lead, and Dr Daisy Robinton, who will facilitate the transition and continue in an advisory role. If successful in acute IVF settings, OVI-586 could be developed further for use in chronic or prophylactic treatment paradigms aimed at delaying menopause and maintaining systemic health in aging women.
“Granata’s exceptional background in reproductive medicine makes their team uniquely positioned to advance this program efficiently into human trials,” Robinton told us. “We’re particularly excited about establishing robust proof-of-concept data showing how OVI-586 can potentially modulate ovarian reserve in clinical settings. Success here would lay crucial groundwork for expanding into chronic indications where this mechanism could provide additional therapeutic benefit. The scientific synergy between our organizations creates a powerful foundation for addressing these significant unmet needs in women’s reproductive health and beyond.”
