RMIT and GonGlobal partner to replace IVF injections with inhaled medicines

IVF can be a long and taxing process. Most patients need three to six treatment cycles to achieve a live birth, and each cycle involves multiple self-administered injections. For many people, that adds up to hundreds of injections over the course of their treatment.

Distinguished Professor Leslie Yeo, who is leading the RMIT side of the collaboration, said the treatment burden was a key motivation for the project.

“IVF has created millions of lives, but the treatment itself can be incredibly demanding,” Professor Yeo said. “We’re excited to work with GonGlobal to develop technology that could replace injections with inhaled medicines and make IVF significantly easier for patients.”

The collaboration between RMIT and GonGlobal will develop OULAIR™, a system designed to deliver IVF medicines by inhalation instead of injection.

It’s built on RMIT’s patented HYDRA inhalation technology, which uses a nebulizer to deliver liquid medicines deep into the lungs safely and selectively. GonGlobal has secured an exclusive global licence to apply the technology to fertility drugs.

“By combining RMIT’s engineering expertise with GonGlobal’s experience in therapeutic drug-device combination development and commercialisation, we’re developing a solution that has the potential to change the IVF experience for patients around the world,” Professor Yeo said.

The project has attracted $1 million in funding, with RMIT and Innovation Victoria each contributing $500,000, to support the development and commercialisation of OVULAIR™. Victoria’s Minister for Economic Development, Anthony Carbines, said the project reflects the state’s ambitions in health innovation.

“This innovation shows what Victoria can do – taking world-class research and turning it into a global breakthrough that can change lives,” he said.

“We’re backing Victoria’s brightest innovators to scale faster, attract global investment and prove that the world’s best ideas come from right here in Melbourne.”

RMIT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation, Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO, said the partnership reflects the value of collaboration across sectors.

“Transformative research doesn’t happen in isolation, it happens when universities, industry and government bring their complementary strengths together,” Professor Drummond said.

“This partnership with GonGlobal, backed by Innovation Victoria, is a powerful example of how we can move breakthrough technologies out of the lab and into the clinic, where they have the potential to deliver significant benefits for patients and strengthen Victoria’s medical innovation ecosystem.”

For GonGlobal Co-Founder and CEO Ellen Gonda, the work is personal.

“I know firsthand how challenging it can be for patients experiencing infertility and navigating IVF,” she said.

“The physical, emotional, logistical and financial tolls can be overwhelming. Our mission is simple, to radically improve the IVF patient experience and success rates by making treatments less painful, more precise and far more joyful.”

GonGlobal Executive Chair, Chief Scientist and Co-Founder Dr Igor Gonda sees the collaboration as a continuation of Melbourne’s long history in the field.

“Melbourne has been a global leader in IVF since the very beginning,” Dr Gonda said.

“We’re proud to work with RMIT to continue this tradition by developing a new generation of patient-focused fertility treatments.”

The RMIT and GonGlobal teams will continue developing and testing OVULAIR™ as part of the push toward commercialisation.