Comparative Analysis: In Vitro Fertilization vs. In Vitro Maturation

796 Words2 Pages

Comparing apples to oranges is often fraught with difficulty, despite the fact that both of them are a fruit. In this Medi-Cult case study we are doing just that. We are comparing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) with In Vitro Maturation (IVM). As the names imply, IVF is fertilization of a mature oocyte or “egg’ in the laboratory and IVM is the maturation of an immature oocyte in the laboratory, followed by fertilization in the laboratory. In IVF the “eggs” are matured by Mother Nature in the human ovary and in IVM the immature “eggs” are harvested and matured in a laboratory petri dish. Most people have heard the term “test-tube baby”. The term was made famous in 1978, when a baby was conceived using IVF from an egg matured in a human ovary, not …show more content…

The case study gives us some financial data, stating that the cost for one cycle of IVF is approximately $9,000. We will assume this is the retail cost of an IVF cycle. The sources of economic value for IVF include its current monopoly of the infertility market. Additional economic and customer perceived value of IVF is obtained from the real possibility of achieving a desired pregnancy, even when the pregnancy success rates are stated to be around 20 …show more content…

This would be most similar to a market penetration strategy. However, you must not be priced to low or customers will quickly assume that IVM is inferior to IVF through the “price-perceived quality” relationship. Medi-Cult’s marketing of IVM’s purported benefits versus IVF and their similar pregnancy success rates should help them capture most of the strategic pricing gap of their culture media and thus maximize their

Open Document