Like many important things in life, the start of Anecova was a meeting between two people. On December 19th 2003, Dr Pascal Mock, a gynaecologist specializing in in vitro fertilization (IVF), met Martin Velasco, entrepreneur and business angel.

Pascal had an original and innovative idea while Martin had the vision to recognize its value and the will to turn it into reality. Anecova SA was born in Geneva in March 2004.

Key dates

March 2004

• Creation of Anecova SA in Geneva, Switzerland

April 2004

• Establishment of the Scientific Advisory Board with leading scientists in the area of assisted reproduction
• Device and approach development begins
• Animal trials
• Start of clinical trials

May 2004

• Establishment of an international talent partnership to develop the capsule:
  • EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne
  • CRG, UZ Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
  • IVI, Valencia, Spain
  • INRA, Jouy en Josas, France
  • FAL, Neustadt, Germany

December 2006

• First indications that fertilization, embryo development and pregnancies are possible using the Anecova-d1 intra-uterine device.

March 2007

• CE Mark Certification, Anecova-d1 device
• ISO 9001: 2000 Certification
• ISO 13485: 2003 Certification

From April 2007

• Further development of the device to facilitate the procedure
• Initiation of a multicentric Clinical Trial

November 2007

• Anecova nominated 2008 Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

November 2008

• New appointments to the Board of Directors:
  • Patrick Aebischer (President, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland)
  • Barry W. Wilson (Former President of Medtronic International)
  • Jeffrey B. Jump (MD and SVP Sales and Marketing, Biosensors International)

April 2009

• First Publication in the Human Reproduction Journal: "An in vivo culture system for human embryos using an encapsulation technology: a pilot study"