Recombinant gonadotrophins in reproductive medicine: gold standard for ovarian stimulation therapy in the 21st century.

The clinical use of gonadotrophin preparations started in the 1960s when it was possible to extract human menopausal gonadotrophins from urine of post-menopausal women. Recombinant gonadotrophins became available in 1995. Whereas in other therapeutic areas the introduction of pure, recombinant preparations such as insulin and growth hormone has lead to rapid phasing out of biological extraction-based therapies, this is different for gonadotrophins. It is difficult to understand why even today women are exposed to urinary products although the benefits of recombinant gonadotropohins in terms of safety are obvious.