💌 Issue 70: Period pad that detects HPV | $6m for Cercle | Dearbump's new pregnancy app | $500m for women's health research

+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news

Sep 25, 2024

Hi! Welcome to issue #70 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 23 September 2024).

🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:

🩸 The period pad that detects HPV
✅ $6m for the women's health AI-driven data start-up Cercle
🤰🏼 New pregnancy app from Dearbump
🔥 Jill Biden announces $500m annually for women’s health research

Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com

This week’s issue is supported by Palteq Ltd

Palteq Ltd is a marketing agency delivering rising ROAS for femtech founders and women’s health innovators.

This week’s marketing tip from founder Monica: Ad restrictions hampering your sales? Shift strategy: use ads to nurture a community around your brand, instead of solely promoting your product.

🩸Introducing the period pad that can detect HPV

Hong Kong-founded WomenX Biotech has launched a market-first period pad which can detect Human Papillomavirus (HPV) using menstrual blood. (full story here)

‘PadX’ is a non-invasive, convenient at-home alternative to cervical screening.

The process is simple: use it like a normal period pad, send it securely to the lab and get your digital test results in 3 business days.

It’s also already demonstrated an accuracy of 99.2% (from tests on 119 female participants).

Founder Dr Pui Wah Choi has been working on the design and clinical testing since 2020. She said:

“We set a new standard in HPV screening, empowering women with accessible, accurate, and discreet health monitoring options.”

The global drive to eradicate cervical cancer

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a prevalent, often symptomless virus linked to cervical cancer, affecting 3m women globally annually, according to the World Health Organisation.

Early detection through regular screening is crucial as approximately 95% of cervical cancers are believed to be caused by persistent HPV infection.

But screening rates can be low:

in the US an estimated 1 in 4 women are not up to date with cervical screening.
in England, 2022/23 rates are at the lowest since 2014, now standing at 68.7%.

And why? In a recent poll of 2,400 women by Healthwatch England, respondents said their reluctance towards cervical screening is because they find find the appointments uncomfortable, embarrassing or inconvenient.

So could self-screening options like ‘PadX’ be the answer?

Healthwatch England thinks so - in its new report ‘Cervical screening, my way’ (which I’ve written about here), it’s urged the NHS to adopt cervical self-screening as an option for those who would prefer it. And several countries, including Australia already offer self-testing options.

Global innovators

Innovators globally are also developing more comfortable and convenient options for self-screening too.

In the US, the Qvin ‘Q-Pad’ (which is a menstrual pad like PadX) is seeking regulatory approval to be used for HPV. And Teal Health’s ‘Teal Wand’ is in clinical trials and has FDA breakthrough designation.

In the UK, gynaecological health company Daye offers an at-home HPV test using a tampon. And also in the UK, Phd student Sânziana Foia’s Papcup is another innovation in development which has had warm support from organisations including Cancer Research UK.

A singular goal

The World Health Organisation has set a clear plan to completely eradicate cervical cancer.

While challenges remain, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, innovations like PadX, combined with vaccination efforts, offer hope for significant progress in the fight against cervical cancer.

💰 Funding, deals and investment news

📌 US: Women's health AI start-up Cercle secures $6m seed funding to expand data offering. While healthcare is inundated with data, 80% of it is unstructured and extracting insights from that data is expensive and time consuming. Cercle’s platform, the ‘Cercle Biomedical Graph’, ingests and transforms de-identified healthcare data into real-time, high-quality insights that women's healthcare providers can use to run more efficient businesses and provide more personalised care. Already seeing success in fertility since its debut in 2023 - and with ex-Meta chief Sheryl Sandberg as a previous investor - this funding will allow Cercle to expand into other areas of women’s health. The round was led by Outsiders Fund. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 Female leaders across tech, entertainment, sport, media and fashion invest in Midi Health. Amy Schumer, Connie Britton and Sheryl Sandberg are among a collective of 80 investors adding $5m to virtual clinic Midi Health’s oversubscribed $63m Series B. As founder Joanna Strober explains: "This is truly an example of women investing in companies such as Midi that they want and believe need to exist in the world, putting their own money behind their belief in our goal of closing the care gap for perimenopause, menopause and beyond.” (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 GERMANY: Greek-founded Menopause platform Vivian Lab secures €300k pre-seed funding. Launched just six months ago, Vivian Lab combines educational content, telehealth consultations and personalised treatment plans to offer accessible care through menopause. A number of enterprise clients are already on board, and this funding from Bulgarian VC fund Eleven Ventures will support expansion through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The platform also has expansion plans for fertility, pregnancy and postpartum care. (Continue reading: See News)

📌 US: Canopie raises $3.7m for prevention-focused maternal health. Canopie provides personalised, virtual mental health care covered by insurance to address social drivers of health for new mothers across all levels of risk in the US. Prevention is key - Canopie aims to engage expectant mothers early and provide insights to care partners. This seed round was co-led by Beta Boom and Aeroflow Health. (Continue reading: Canopie)

🌟 More news from this week

📌 UK: Dearbump launches pregnancy app offering immediate access to midwives. Driven by her own experiences, founder Emma Jarvis wanted to create a pregnancy app that offer more than just education material. Emma has launched Dearbump - a new app with tailored pregnancy support and a live chat function with expert midwives. Data collection through the app will also contribute to clinical research to aid the closure of the maternal health gap. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 GERMANY: New CEO for Clue announced. Chief Product Officer Rhiannon White will succeed Audrey Tsang as the new CEO of female health app Clue. Rhiannon has already been a key part of Clue’s product and growth strategy, and in her 2.5 years in the CPO role, the company has doubled annual recurring revenue, tripled paying subscribers, and quadrupled its conversion rate. Tsang had previously taken on the role of co-CEO (alongside Carrie Walter who left last year) from founder Ida Tin. (Continue reading: FutureFemHeath)

📌 US: Ovia Health launches new postpartum support program. Ovia Health, by the global life sciences company Labcorp is a women’s health digital platform that has been around since 2012. With 50+ clinicially proven programs already working to improve health outcomes, Ovia is now adding postpartum support. Delivered through its app (and predominantly via employers or health plans) this is a 12-month postpartum program with personalised recovery modes, symptom tracking and alerts and mental health support. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 US: ASPIVIX partners with women’s health clinic Tia to introduce its cervical device. ASPIVIX’s soft-suction cervical device is a modern and gentler alternative to the tenaculum, which helps make IUD insertion less painful. Women at nine Tia clinics across the US will now be offered the Carevix device alongside existing pain management options. To date, around 700 women globally have now benefited from the Carevix device as it begins commercialisation. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

🩸 Research and women’s health news

📌 GLOBAL: Heart attack data adds more evidence that women treated differently to men. While sex differences in heart attack treatment and outcomes are well documented already, this new study of 1.5m adults across six diverse countries adds new evidence that this is also consistent across countries too. Researchers say the next step is further investigation into what factors may be contributing to these sex disparities as this could point to pathways for intervention. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📄 Govt & policy news

📌 US: First lady Jill Biden announces $500m annual commitment from the Pentagon to women’s health research. Another incredible boost for closing the gender health gap with this annual (yes, not one-off!) investment in women’s health research. Areas in focus include arthritis, chronic fatigue and cardiovascular health. (Continue reading: UPI)

📌 US: Abortion ban leads to preventable death - the women killed by the Dobbs decision. The heartbreaking story of Amber Nicole Thurman has once again brought the issue of restrictive abortion laws into the spotlight. We ask: how many more women will need to die? (Continue reading: The Atlantic)

📌 UK: Poor NHS maternity care in danger of becoming normalised, regulator warns. I almost didn’t include this story because, as the headline indicates, we have tragically heard this so many times before. But that’s exactly why we must keep pushing for change. (Continue reading: The Guardian)

📌 AUSTRALIA: $2.4m allocated to improve women’s health literacy. Three organisations will benefit from Government funding to improve health literacy and outcomes for women who are facing barriers accessing health information. (Continue reading: Healthcare Asia)

📌 AUSTRALIA: Senate menopause inquiry delivers recommendations. After a nine-month investigation, there’s much to improve when it comes to menopause support in Australia. A total of 25 recommendations for the Government include making hormone therapies more affordable, increasing awareness of menopause, introducing workplace policies, and better education for health practitioners. (Continue reading: SBS)

📌 CANADA: Two national networks secure $10m in funding for women’s heart and brain health research. Each network will receive $5M in funding over five years from the Government to better understand women’s risk factors for heart and brain conditions and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of conditions more common among women or that are less well studied. (Continue reading: Canada.ca)

✅ Jobs

📌 UK: Prescriber for menopause care, Vira Health

📌 CANADA: Executive Assistant, Somedays

📌 UK: Policy Manager, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)

Thanks for reading and see you next time! If you’ve missed any previous newsletter issues catch them all at futurefemhealth.com

Anna

Before you go: Would you like to support FutureFemHealth through sponsorship and get your brand in front of 1,500+ professionals, founders and investors in women’s health? I’m taking bookings from October onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com

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