Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have found that finerenone, a drug used for type 2 diabetes-related kidney disease, may help infertile women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). POI is a condition where the ovaries stop working early, and currently has very limited treatment options. The study showed finerenone could wake up dormant small follicles in the ovaries, encouraging them to grow into mature eggs and form healthy embryos. This could lead to an affordable treatment with few side effects. Ernest Ng Hung-yu, clinical professor and part of the research team, said this approach is a “paradigm shift” from current methods that only stimulate follicles. "I think it’s quite a breakthrough because the current treatment for patients who actually have premature ovarian insufficiency is to just wait until the patients – sometimes in very small proportion – may have follicular development, but it can take maybe several months or even … years," he explained. "So basically we just tell the patient that there’s no effective treatment, especially drug treatment." The new findings offer fresh hope to women struggling with infertility due to POI, pending further larger studies.