💌 Issue 88: Endometriosis diagnostic trial | $2m for Comma and 'hyper-secure' period app | at-home IVF injections scale across U.S
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hello and welcome to issue #88 of FutureFemHealth (w/c 10 February 2025).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
📈 Serac Healthcare a step closer with endometriosis diagnostic.
🩸 Comma announces $2million seed round and launch of hyper-secure period tracking app 'Sara'.
🏠 Dandi scales at-home IVF injection care to 20 U.S. cities.
📱 Novartis and Dawn Health introduce breast cancer support app.
But before that: Would you like to support FutureFemHealth through sponsorship and get your brand in front of nearly 8,000 professionals, founders and investors in women’s health? I’m taking bookings from March onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com
📈 Serac Healthcare takes a step forward for endometriosis diagnosis
Endometriosis diagnosis is broken. And it can often feel like society has normalised that - why else would it still take on average 8-10 years for women to receive a diagnosis?
Current methods for diagnosis include ultrasound and MRI, which often fail to detect the condition, and laparoscopy, which is a costly and invasive surgical procedure.
The lack of reliable, non-invasive diagnostics leaves many patients in limbo, forced to endure chronic pain and fertility challenges without getting clarity on their condition.
But a new non-invasive way to diagnose endometriosis is in development. This week British healthcare company Serac Healthcare received positive feedback from the FDA and endorsement to go ahead with a Phase 3 clinical trial. (Read our full story here.)
The London-based radiopharmaceutical firm is testing its innovative imaging agent - known as 99mTc-maraciclatide - that aims to diagnose one of the most common and undiagnosed forms of endometriosis, superficial peritoneal endometriosis (SPE) without the need for surgery.
As David Hail, Chief Executive of Serac Healthcare, explains:
“Chronic pain, fertility issues and depression are just some of the consequences that one in ten women with endometriosis are living with every day.
“A non-invasive test, particularly for early-stage disease which cannot easily be visualised by other imaging methods, and which accounts for eighty per cent of diagnoses by laparoscopic surgery, is desperately needed by the 190 million women worldwide suffering from this debilitating condition.”
So what are the timescales? Serac Healthcare told me that they now aim to begin Phase 3 trials this year and bring the solution to patients in the US within three years. There are also further launches in other countries under consideration too.
Progress in endometriosis diagnostics
Serac Healthcare is not alone in tackling this issue of endometriosis diagnosis.
French biotech company Ziwig has developed the Endotest, a saliva-based diagnostic that uses AI to analyze microRNA biomarkers for endometriosis. It’s already available in numerous countries around the world and is working towards wider adoption. This week it announced broader support from the French National Health Service, as 25,000 patients will now benefit from reimbursement coverage for the test across 80 medical centers in France.
Other promising innovations include blood-based tests like Heranova and Dotlab and non-surgical cell-based tests such as Herabiotech’s MetriDx.
Endometriosis diagnosis is one of the most significant failings in women's healthcare worldwide. These advancements offer hope for earlier, more accurate diagnosis and better patient outcomes.
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 US: Comma announces $2million seed round and launch of hyper-secure period tracking app 'Sara'. With privacy concerns top of mind in reproductive health, Comma’s app promises to never track metadata and keep all information private. It does this by making the app accessible through an internet browser rather than downloaded to a device from an app store. Comma also plans to release period products and diagnostic services in the future. As 2023 graduates of Techstars accelerator, this funding round included Techstars venture fund follow-on funding. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 US: SimpliFed raises $4M to expand virtual maternal healthcare platform. Establishing itself first in baby feeding, this new investment will allow SimpliFed to expand into a more holistic platform offering remote monitoring for high-risk pregnancies and mental health screening and support. “The health and well-being of a parent is deeply connected to baby feeding and yet they are always treated in silos. That’s why we are steadfastly dedicated to changing the model and wrap each family in complete care.” Lead investor was Morningside. (Continue reading: HIT Consultant)
🌟 Industry report out now: Sexual wellness
FemHealth Insights reports dive deep into a specific vertical of women’s health and provide current, relevant information on market size, exits, investments and industry trends.
This latest report focuses on female sexual health and wellness companies - an industry with $1.1billion total funding and still ripe for further investment and innovation. Explore the trends, company activity and funding in this important sector.
Use promocode ‘FUTURE’ for 50% off the report ($49 instead of $99).
🌟 Industry news from this week
📌 US: Dandi scales at-home IVF injection care to 20 U.S. cities. Dandi's service is part of the ecosystem surrounding IVF, addressing a crucial gap in patient care: nearly 9 in 10 IVF patients say that having to carry out at-home injections is the hardest part of their fertility journey, and clinics are typically closed during these critical evening injection times. The Dandi offering includes nurses who can administer injections at home, as well as injection ‘training’ for partners and after-hours support. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 GERMANY: Novartis and Dawn Health introduce breast cancer support app. Large pharma companies seem to be increasingly looking to develop more direct relationships with consumers (case in point - the weekend’s superbowl ads featured heavy pharma presence). This Novartis app will initially launch in Germany, followed by the UK, Australia, Canada and other markets. (Continue reading: Medical Devices Network)
📌 US: Mayo Clinic's pelvic health education content to feature in Axena Health's Leva app. There’s no doubt that in women’s health, educational content builds businesses. As Axena’s CMO explains: “Education is a cornerstone of effective care, particularly for conditions like urinary incontinence where stigma and misinformation often hinder treatment.” In this partnership, Mayo’s overactive bladder content will feature in the Leva app and as a complement to the Leva FDA-cleared pelvic device. Also as part of the collaboration, Mayo Clinic is also investing in Axena Health (no terms disclosed). (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 NETHERLANDS: ScreenPoint’s AI breast cancer screening tool hits detection success in new study. A win:win for both doctors and patients - ScreenPoint Medical found that its Transpara AI tool increased cancer detection by 29% and reduced radiologist read times by 44%. Over 100,000 women were involved in the study. (Continue reading: Medical Device Network)
📌 US: Lawsuit claims Procter & Gamble’s Menopause test kit is a fraud. The test, marketed under the Clearblue brand, drew criticism when it was launched in 2023. So perhaps no surprise that it’s come to this: two California women are now suing Procter and Gamble alleging it ‘exploits midlife women by selling them useless Menopause tests.’ (Continue reading: Forbes (paywall))
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 AUSTRALIA: Government announces $573 million investment for women’s health. This impressive package of measures for Australia’s universal health insurance scheme Medicare aims to deliver more choice, lower costs and better healthcare for women. There will be new oral contraceptive pills (the first new additions for more than 30 years!) and more choice of HRT, as well as more Medicare support for women in menopause, and more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. Bravo! (Continue reading: Health.gov.au)
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✅ Jobs
📌 US: Director of Marketing, Conceptra Biosciences
📌 US: Content Marketing intern (paid, part-time), Strawberry Health
📌 UK: Senior Product Manager, Hertility (quick, closes in two days)
📌 UK: Head of Media and Communications, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
📌 UK: Senior Product Designer, Flo Health
📌 UK: Fundraising Manager and Fundraising Officer, Bloody Good Period
📌 UK: CRM Manager, London Women’s Clinic
That’s all for this week! See you next time. If you’ve missed any previous newsletter issues catch them all at futurefemhealth.com and do make sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
