IVI RMA Global, the world's largest assisted-reproduction network, has struck a partnership with Austin-based Conceivable Life Sciences to bring the first automation-assisted IVF laboratory into a US clinic. The deal, announced on July 2, will see Conceivable's AURA platform deployed at an IVI RMA site in 2027, with expansion planned across the group's European, Latin American and Middle Eastern networks.
A physical-AI stack for the embryology lab
AURA is billed by Conceivable as the world's first automation-assisted IVF laboratory — a coordinated system of six workstations that spans the full IVF workflow. C:Dish prepares and labels culture dishes; C:Sperm processes samples; C:Egg locates eggs for embryologist confirmation; C:ICSI carries out micro-injection with software-guided sperm selection; C:Culture handles incubation; and C:Handler is a robot arm that moves specimens between stations. Together they execute more than 200 precise steps per cycle, each of which today depends on a specific embryologist's hand and eye.
What the clinical evidence looks like so far
AURA is currently being evaluated in an IRB-approved study. Conceivable says the platform has now supported more than 60 pregnancies and 30-plus live births, with over 1,000 eggs and 100 patients treated during the pilot. IVI RMA delivers roughly 180,000 assisted-reproductive treatments a year across 200 clinics in 15 countries — a footprint that gives the automated lab a fast path to scale if the US rollout hits its 2027 target.
Why healthcare is quietly automating fastest
The American Society of Reproductive Medicine estimates true global demand at 12 million IVF babies a year against an installed capacity of about 750,000. Conceivable's pitch is that scaling by hand is impossible, and that AURA's data flywheel — every cycle producing standardised process data — can compound the way software does. As part of the tie-up, IVI RMA also took a strategic investment in Conceivable to fund further development.
The move slots AURA alongside a wave of physical-AI systems entering the operating room and lab, from Pathway Labs' EchoNext ECG AI to Vinmec's Vietnam robotic surgery network. It also lands the same week the group's autonomous robotic pharmacy peer Queue raised $12.6M, underscoring how quickly clinical operations are being redesigned around robotics.
Reporting based on coverage from PR Newswire, Conceivable Life Sciences and IVI RMA Global.