---
title: "The Science: Izana"
description: "The evidence behind Izana: two papers, one clinical, one on the market, with every number sourced. Why supporting the burden of IVF is what helps couples finish."
url: https://izana.ai/research
---

# We built Izana on evidence, not optimism.

Two papers sit underneath this whole product: one clinical, one about the market. Here's the short, honest version of both, with every number sourced.

Clinical paper co-authored with Dr. Atul Ganatra · Dr. Vani Sundarapandian · Dr. Baiju Ahamed

## If the burden is what ends IVF, support the burden.

- **1 in 3** — couples quit IVF before a baby. Not because a cycle failed. Because the months are exhausting. [Shen et al., 2026](https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.70440)
- **½** — a gentler experience roughly halved dropout in a clinical study. Burden can be moved. It's a lever. [Verberg et al., 2008](https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/den219)
- **51→72%** — finishing more cycles lifts the chance of a baby from 51% to 72%. The gap is couples who carry on. [Malizia et al., NEJM 2009](https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0803072)

Izana supports the burden, so couples finish.

## Two papers

### The Inter-Cycle Gap
Why IVF care stops at the clinic door, and what a clinically-governed companion can do about it.

- **~37%** of couples discontinue IVF before a live birth (62 studies, 330,593 patients).
- **~6 hrs** of a two-week cycle is inside the clinic. The rest is lived, unseen, at home.
- **22.5%** of male partners screen positive for anxiety: the invisible half of the couple.
- **4** design principles: clinically governed, phase-aware, dyadic, closed-loop.

[Download the paper](https://izana.ai/research/Izana-The-Inter-Cycle-Gap.docx)

### The Cost of Waiting
Why delayed childbearing is driving a structural, decades-long rise in fertility treatment.

- **131** of 237 countries are now below the replacement fertility rate.
- **1 in 8** Spanish babies are now born through assisted reproduction.
- **~1M** assisted-reproduction cycles run in Europe each year, rising annually.
- **<1 in 10** couples who could benefit in India are currently reached.

[Download the paper](https://izana.ai/research/Izana-The-Cost-of-Waiting.docx)

## Four rules a real companion must follow.
From the clinical paper. Miss any one, and you've rebuilt the problem you set out to fix.

01. **Clinically governed** — It works under your clinic's authority. Never around it. It doesn't diagnose, prescribe, or change protocol.
02. **Phase-aware** — Stimulation, retrieval, the two-week wait, each is a different experience. Generic content isn't support.
03. **Dyadic** — Burden sits in the couple, and the decision to stop is made together. Support that reaches one reaches half.
04. **Closed-loop** — Data in, guidance out, and the clinic sees it and shapes it. Open at either end, it fails.

## The honest boundary
“Izana does not claim to make an embryo implant. The protocol belongs to the clinic; Izana instruments the gap around it.”

## The pilot — We don't ask you to believe it. We ask you to measure it.
The clinical paper closes with a deliberately low-risk pilot, designed to be run against your own baseline.

- **20–30 couples** — One small cohort. Beginning treatment at your clinic, alongside entirely standard care.
- **90 days** — One window. Long enough to span a stimulation cycle and the interval that follows.
- **€0 cost** — No cost, no protocol change. The medicine stays exactly as it is. Izana runs in parallel, in the gap.
- **1 baseline** — Your own numbers. Continuation, burden and partner engagement, measured against your prior results.

## References
- [Shen et al. (2026)](https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.70440). Worldwide prevalence of discontinuation in fertility treatment. Int. J. Gynecology & Obstetrics.
- [Verberg et al. (2008)](https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/den219). Why do couples drop out from IVF treatment? Human Reproduction.
- [Malizia, Hacker & Penzias (2009)](https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0803072). Cumulative live-birth rates after IVF. NEJM.
- [Domar et al. (2010)](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(10)00766-6/fulltext). Why insured US patients drop out of IVF. Fertility & Sterility.
- [Walker et al. (2023)](https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dead179). The effects of male anxiety and depression on IVF outcomes. Human Reproduction.
- [Lyzwinski, Elgendi & Menon (2024)](https://doi.org/10.2196/45139). Wearable reproductive-health tracking: systematic review. JMIR.
- [Boivin, Griffiths & Venetis (2011)](https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d223). Emotional distress and ART failure: meta-analysis. BMJ.
- [United Nations (2024)](https://population.un.org/wpp/). World Population Prospects. 131/237 countries below replacement.