✉️ Menopause moves further into retail | FDA authorises hysterectomy technology | Bayer's €3bn investment
The weekly global briefing on women's health innovation
Welcome to issue #154 of FutureFemHealth, (w/c July 13 2026) - the weekly global briefing on women’s health innovation.
ICYMI: We’ve published two major market analyses on FutureFemHealth Pro over the past week:
📊 Q2 2026 Women’s Health Funding Analysis - every verified global funding round analysed by health need, company focus, geography, modality and investor type.
🤝 H1 2026 Women’s Health M&A Analysis - co-authored with Stephanie Silverman of Solstice, we examine what 30+ acquisitions reveal about how women’s health is becoming embedded across mainstream healthcare.
🌟 In this week’s briefing:
💰 Bayer’s contraception business attracts €3bn investment
📈 Menopause moves further into mainstream retail
🏥 FDA authorises new tech designed to improve hysterectomy safety.
📊 Women’s health worth £36bn to the UK economy, says McKinsey
Have news to share? anna@futurefemhealth.com
💰 Capital flows
📌 GERMANY: Bayer secures €3bn investment in contraceptives business while retaining control. Long-acting reversible contraception remains one of the largest and most commercially established areas of women’s health. Bayer has agreed a €3 billion financing deal with Apollo, which will take a minority stake in a newly created entity housing its contraceptives business, including products such as Mirena and Kyleena. Bayer will retain majority ownership and full operational control, using the deal to strengthen its balance sheet while highlighting the strategic value of one of women’s health’s largest pharmaceutical franchises. (Continue reading: Reuters)
📌 US: Vertex acquires Crinetics in $10bn endocrine disease deal. Women’s health isn’t the primary focus here, but the acquisition includes a late-stage treatment for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a rare endocrine disorder that can affect hormone production, fertility and reproductive health in women. The deal is part of Vertex’s broader strategy to expand beyond cystic fibrosis into endocrine diseases. (Continue reading: Vertex)
📌 ESTONIA: Muun Health secures €700k grant for hormone-monitoring patch. One of the biggest limitations of hormone testing today is that it provides only occasional snapshots rather than a fuller picture of hormonal changes over time. Muun Health has secured a €700,000 grant from Enterprise Estonia to advance development of its Smart Patch platform, with funding supporting work on the sensor technology needed to enable real-time hormone measurement from interstitial fluid. The company's long-term ambition is to develop a continuous hormone monitor (Continue reading: Muun Health)
🌟 Industry moves and strategic shifts
📌 US: Menopause brand Stripes expands from four to 448 Ulta Beauty stores. Menopause is continuing its move into the mainstream consumer market and becoming a permanent beauty and wellness category. Case in point is Stripes - founded by actor Naomi Watts - which has seen its presence increase to 448 Ulta stores in just six months. “You can walk into any local store and access period care or postpartum care, and yet, for years, women have not been able to have the same level of access for menopause care.” (Continue reading: Glossy)
📌 US: FDA authorises new technology designed to improve hysterectomy safety. Hysterectomy is the second most common surgery performed on women, yet some procedures still require more invasive techniques or carry safety risks. Claria Medical has received FDA marketing authorisation for a new device designed to make minimally invasive hysterectomies safer and more efficient. It was also granted De Novo classification and accepted into the FDA’s Safer Technologies Program, which supports devices expected to offer meaningful safety improvements over current standards of care. (Continue reading: Claria)
🔒 FutureFemHealth Pro
FutureFemHealth Pro is building a growing library of proprietary women’s health market intelligence, including quarterly funding analyses, M&A research, market maps and in-depth sector reports.
Recent reports include:
Q2 2026 Women’s Health Funding Analysis
H1 2026 Women’s Health M&A Analysis
The GLP-1 Support Economy
Chronic Hormonal Monitoring
Urinary Health
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 UK: McKinsey says closing the women’s health gap could add £36bn to the UK economy. Building on its landmark global analysis, which estimated that closing the women’s health gap could unlock US$1 trillion in annual economic value, McKinsey has now applied the same approach to the UK. This new report estimates that improving women’s health could add £36 billion to UK GDP each year by 2040, while giving every woman around 10 additional healthy days annually. It argues improving women’s health should be viewed as an economic priority as well as a healthcare one.(Continue reading: McKinsey Health Institute)
📌 US: One in three women over 35 are unsure whether they’re in perimenopause. Given there is no single diagnostic test for perimenopause, it’s perhaps inevitable that many women struggle to recognise the transition. But a study of more than 7,600 US women by Flo Health found that 34% of women aged 35+ were unsure of their reproductive stage, rising to 42% among those aged 40–44. Flo says the findings highlight the continued need for better education and support alongside improved diagnostics. (Continue reading: Flo Health)
📌 GLOBAL: New report calls for women’s blood disorders to be recognised as a women’s health priority. Bleeding disorders, heavy menstrual bleeding and pregnancy-related blood complications have historically received limited attention despite affecting millions of women worldwide. A new Lancet Haematology Commission sets out a global roadmap to improve diagnosis, treatment, education and research, arguing that haematological care should be better integrated into women’s health across the life course. (Continue reading: Cleveland Clinic)
📄 Policy watch: risks and opportunities
📌 UK: Draft guidance backs rapid endometriosis tests for NHS use. With women in England and Wales often waiting up to a decade for diagnosis, draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that two tests - EndoSure and Endotest - be made available on the NHS. A third test, DotEndo, requires more evidence before it can be recommended. The NHS is often criticised for being slow to adopt innovation, and, with gynaecology waiting lists still in the hundreds of thousands, the real test will be whether patients ultimately get diagnosed and treated more quickly if the guidance is finalised. (Continue reading: The Guardian)
✅ Hiring now
📌 US/ Remote: Event Marketing Manager, Monarch
That’s all for this week! If you’ve missed any previous newsletter issues catch them all at futurefemhealth.com and do make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and you can connect with me directly.
Anna
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical or financial advice.