Issue 19: Future of the womb transplant, $3.1m for Nevia Bio, beta launch for Embody's private period tracker
+ lots more in your weekly FemTech and women's health innovation news
Hi! Welcome to issue #19 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 28 August 2023).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
❤️ What next after the UK’s first womb transplant?
🛑 Beta launch for Embody, the private-by-default period and cycle tracker
🔥 FDA-approval for the Daye tampon
📌 Why women of colour are going without the menopause care they need
💰 Funding news for Nevia Bio and Lasa Health
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
🗞️ Headlines
❤️ What comes next for womb transplantation?
Last week, incredible news broke that the UK had successfully completed its first womb transplant - taking the womb of a woman and transplanting it into her sister.
The recipient, who was born with a condition affecting her uterus, will now wait several months before attempting a pregnancy.
In her case, she did have functioning ovaries which meant she was able to go through IVF prior to the operation, and she has embryos waiting in storage.
Womb transplantation is not new
What I found especially interesting to learn is that womb transplantation is not a new concept: the first in modern times took place in Saudi Arabia in 2000 (although was later removed due to complications). The first baby was born in Sweden in 2014 - and around 50 more babies have been born since.
There’s a dedicated charity here in the UK - Womb Transplant UK, which funded this recent transplant and aims to fund future transplants too. Its Chair Professor J Richard Smith told the BBC:
“The shocking truth is that there are currently more than 15,000 women of child-bearing age in this country who have Absolute Uterine Factor Infertility. They were either born without a womb or have had a hysterectomy due to cancer or other abnormalities of the womb.”
It was also reported that 500 women are currently in touch with Womb Transplant UK to put themselves forward for a procedure like this. The charity continues to raise funds to help more patients.
Critics of womb transplantation say that the risks to the donor aren’t worth it for an operation that isn’t life-saving and that there are challenges around consent for organ donation. They also say that because there are alternative paths to parenthood for those without a womb it shouldn’t be publicly funded (and, the NHS didn’t fund this op nor does it plan to in the future).
So for now, each future operation (which is estimated to cost around £25,000) will need to be funded through charitable donations. Professor Smith continued:
"Any further transplants will depend on the willingness of suitable donors and funding for the operations, which comes through Womb Transplant UK. However, we very much hope we will be able to help other women born without or with underdeveloped wombs in the near future.”
(Continue reading: Sky News)
🛑 Embody, the new ‘private-by-default’ period and cycle tracker launches in beta
Before I tell you more about the Embody app, a little context….
Data privacy is a huge reputational risk for the whole of FemTech. Over the last few years we’ve seen fines for data being sold, stories of identifiable data being shared and confusing and opaque privacy policies. (I’ve written about this before, here.)
Then Roe vs Wade was overturned. Suddenly the risk was that data in a period tracker could be obtained as evidence to support a prosecution of abortion, even in instances of miscarriage.
So, as users become increasingly aware of how their data is used and the need to keep it safe, data privacy is a competitive advantage, especially for period and cycle trackers.
How Embody app meets the need for data privacy
Embody app has been in build mode this year and I’ve been interested to follow its development because of its bold promise:
‘we will never sell your data, because we never have it.’
What exactly does this mean in practise? Embody’s app is local-only, meaning any data is stored on a user’s own device rather than in the cloud, and it is encrypted too so that it is protected from third parties. The only information Embody records is how often you open the app and how many times you press ‘save’ to log information. Everything else is yours.
As founder Anna Hall writes:
“What I realised….was that it is just as important to have a tracking tool that will never share data with authorities, no matter the pressure placed on its creators. And the best way to make that happen? Don’t have that data in the first place.
“That’s what sets Embody apart.
“Most apps collect data from users from the start, making it impossible to guarantee it won’t be compromised and released by hackers, sold to third parties or used as evidence in court.
“Embody offers privacy by default – an idea that’s blindingly simple yet revolutionary in today’s tech space. Default means users don’t have to select an “anonymous mode” or turn on a special setting. Their actions are always private. We have built our business model around security from day one.”
Embody releases its beta app
Now, Embody has just launched its closed beta app so that early users can download and test it.
(Continue reading and find out more: Embody website)
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 $3.1m for Israeli start-up Nevia Bio to help early detection of reproductive diseases The platform uses machine learning and data science strategies. The first proof of concept will be Ovarian Cancer. (Continue reading: FemTech World)
📌 $275k grant to help Lasa Health develop its AI-chatbot. The chatbot supports people experiencing a flare-up with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain. (Continue reading: Lasa Health)
📌 Women’s health investment growing - despite broader headwinds. A mid-year update from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) highlights growing momentum in women’s health investment right now. “It is evident that investment into this space can bring impressive returns for multiple players, including investors, providers and payer.” (Continue reading: Silicon Valley Bank (the women’s health part is page 16 onwards!)
🌟 More news from this week
📌 Daye’s Nude Tampon has FDA approval as a medical device The Nude tampon claims to reduce the risk of vaginal infections and Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) as it’s the only tampon on the market sanitised with gamma irradiation. It also features a flushable wrapper and a no-shed sleeve. (Continue reading: Valentina Milanova on LinkedIn)
📌 The FDA, tampons and safety A fascinating read from Dr Jen Gunter about why FDA approval for a tampon is such a big deal and why tampon safety really, really matters. If you read one thing this week, this is my pick! (Continue reading: The Vajenda)
📌 FemTech Lab announces its Autumn accelerator finalists. Congratulations to 13 FemTech start-ups from around the world who will now join the London-based accelerator to develop their businesses. Winning ideas include an AI-powered menopause care platform from Australia, a compostable sanitary pad from India, and a non-invasive medical device to help prevent osteoporosis from Canada. (Continue reading: FemTech Lab on LinkedIn)
📌 Menopause is different for women of colour: The conversation about menopause is still very much focused on white women. Yet research has found that the duration, the frequency, the severity and even the types of symptoms of menopause can look different across races. And physicians aren’t always aware of these differences, meaning women of colour often go without the care they need. (Continue reading: New York Times)
📌 ‘My own personal birth story inspired my business’ A first-person insight into FemTech start-up Postpartum Plan, as founder Meg Murray-Jones recounts the progress she’s made with the business over the last two years. (Continue reading: Maddyness)
📌 Why size and sex matters in healthcare Dr Brittany Barreto (host of the FemTech Focus podcast among many other things!) begins her first column as a Forbes contributor with a look at why healthcare built for men just isn’t good enough. (Continue reading: Forbes)
📌 'Dirty red': how periods have been stigmatised through history to the modern day world: Stigma and silence about periods is entrenched in society - and when people don’t talk, they don’t seek help when they need it either. This brilliant piece looks at the history of why periods have been shrouded in shame and secrecy. (Continue reading: The Conversation)
📌 New menopause campaign from Pink Lady Apples: I’m slightly bemused by this one - menopause is the new marketing focus for Pink Lady Apples (yes, the fruit) in a campaign highlighting the benefit of apples when dealing with sensory changes caused by menopause. Nutritionist Emma Bardwell is on board to support. (Continue reading: Fruitnet.com)
🌟 Latest resources
📌 FemTech tools and resources: A helpful list of useful FemTech websites, podcasts and newsletters (yep, FutureFemHealth is featured!), curated by panellists at a recent Digital Health Insider/Light-It roundtable. (Continue reading: Digital Health Insider on LinkedIn)
📌 Healthcare systems stakeholder cheatsheet. A guide to the USA’s healthcare stakeholders such as providers, payers, pharma, and patients, from the ever-helpful Halle Tecco. (Continue reading: Halle Tecco)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 SCOTLAND: More progress needed on women’s health action plan, warns doctors The Scottish government's women's health inequalities plan, which was drafted with input from the real-life experiences of women, set out 66 actions in 2021. Now, doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland have said that "practical and substantive changes" have not been felt by women so far and more needs to be done. (Continue reading: BBC)
📌 USA: Free period products now in schools in nearly half of US states New Jersey has become the latest state to agree to provide free period products in schools for grades 6-12. (Continue reading: Claire Coder, founder of Aunt Flow, on LinkedIn)
✅ Campaign of the week
WUKA’s Say Pants to the Tax campaign is picking up pace. John Lewis and Waitrose are now joining Tesco and Marks & Spencer in cutting the price of their period pants.
This all follows the launch of the campaign which is urging the government to ditch VAT on period pants because other period products such as pads and tampons have been exempt since 2021.
(Continue reading: BBC)
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading - if you enjoyed this issue please do press ‘like’ below!
See you next time,
Anna
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