New research and advancement of technology should focus on bringing down the cost of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles so that the process is more accessible to couples with fertility issues, an expert said on the sidelines of an international conference on advances in IVF on Sunday.

The huge cost of IVF cycles is a barrier to accessing it, doctors said. One IVF cycle — fertilisation of ovaries and sperms in a laboratory environment to develop an embryo — costs about ₹1.5 lakh in Calcutta, and between ₹3 and ₹4 lakh in Mumbai.

Doctors said the first IVF cycle is often not successful for many couples, and they have to go for a second or third cycle. The expenses keep piling.

“While technology has reduced the cost of so many things like mobile phones, computers and televisions, it has been the contrary in the case of IVF. The cost of IVF cycles has also shot up. The focus has been on more complex procedures, tools and sophistication. It is time that the focus shifts to how the cost of IVF cycles can be brought down,” said Biswanath Ghosh Dastidar, an associate professor of gynaecology and obstetrics at SSKM Hospital.

He is also the organising secretary of the International Conference on Advances in Reproductive Medicine, held in New Town on Saturday and Sunday.

Willem Ombelet, an infertility specialist and an associate professor at the universities of Hasselt, Ghent and Antwerp in Belgium, said traditional laboratories used for IVF cycles are very expensive to set up.

Doctors at the conference said setting up a basic IVF lab costs about ₹5 crore, while an advanced IVF lab costs nearly ₹10 crore.

A new technology that Ombelet and others have developed does not need an expensive laboratory.

“We provide a box of eight tubes that are pre-gassed and sterile. We deliver the fluid that is the medium where we do the fertilisation and embryo development. Put one egg and the sperm inside the tube and leave it. Every day, you look at how the embryo develops. The only thing you need is a basic incubator that maintains a constant temperature. The cost of a lab when you use this technique is one-tenth of a usual IVF lab,” said Ombelet, who was invited to the conference to speak about the new technology that can reduce the cost of IVF cycles.

Sudarsan Ghosh Dastidar, president of the conference, said that nearly 70 per cent of IVF cases can be performed using the technology developed by Ombelet.

“This technique will not work in some situations. But we must not ignore the benefit it will give to a vast majority of those who go for IVF,” said Sudarsan, who is also the director of the centre of excellence of assisted reproductive technology (ART) at SSKM Hospital.

While there are many private IVF facilities in Calcutta, SSKM Hospital provides IVF cycles for free. The centre of excellence at SSKM is run in collaboration with GDIFR, a private entity that has been offering IVF services for nearly four decades.

“In 2024, eighty free cycles of IVF were completed at the centre in SSKM. The IVF cycles led to 32 pregnancies,” said Biswanath, who is associated with the SSKM centre.

“This number is low for an entire year. This is because we do not have a fully developed laboratory yet... if the fund requirement for setting up a laboratory goes down significantly, we can conduct more IVF cycles in a year.”