A new private fertility clinic called HOPE Clinic has been inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Chris Fearne, and the Minister for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise, Miriam Dalli. 

The clinic is offering assisted procreation services to Maltese and foreign clients.

HOPE Clinic received a foreign direct investment of €1 million. It said that this investment will help to continue strengthening the field of life sciences in Malta.

Fearne said that Malta already offers a service of the highest level, free of charge to the Maltese through the ART Clinic inside Mater Dei hospital, therefore, this private clinic can complement the existing service and further strengthen the country’s name in this field on an international level.

He revealed that since the Maltese Authority for the Protection of Embryos started collecting statistics until now 434 babies have been born in our country through assisted procreation services, while there are around 40 pregnant women who are currently using the service.

Fearne said that the necessary tenders are currently being finalised so that Mater Dei Hospital acquires the necessary technology in order to offer the Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic disorders (PGTM) service which would be free of charge.

He pointed out that this was made possible with the amendments in the law of IVF which were made earlier this year. He also said that the professionals who will be providing this service are currently being trained.

"The life sciences sector is a resilient sector that continues to register growth. In the past months, investment in this sector from manufacturing, research and development facilities, and start-ups, exceeded €80 million. This investment was possible thanks to the work of Malta Enterprise which is working to support new economic niches such as biopharms and life sciences technology", said Dalli.