Executive SummaryThe science of what makes a couple able to conceive is still evolving and the cause of infertility in the majority of women with the diagnosis is unknown. However, of the patients where the causes can be ascertained, the most prevalent problems are ovulatory failure, tubal damage, and endometriosis. Of course, it is not always the female that is responsible.If ovulation is achieved and the patient is still unable to conceive, she becomes a candidate for assisted reproduction techniques (ART). If infertility is caused by tubal disease, the patient can either undergo microsurgery to remove adhesions from the uterine tubes and ovaries (salpingo- oovariolysis) or falloposcopy to cannulize the tube, or she may consider ART. The most common ART procedures are in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT).Infertility in women has also been shown to be a function of age. The ability to conceive decreases after age 35 and the ability to conceive and carry a child through to a normal birth decreases after age 30.The high cost of infertility therapy is a combination of professional, clinic, diagnostic and monitoring, and drug costs. While drug costs for individual patients can be high, this does not translate into a large drug market, because the numbers of patients who can afford the cost and inconvenience of therapy is small.No major changes are forecast for the infertility market in this decade. Product development programs tend to focus on incremental improvements, especially reduction in side effects, and these will have a small positive effect on the market. Breakthrough therapies are not expected; no substantial improvement in the success rate of infertility is forecast. Market growth is essentially demographics.