Issue 48: Start-ups using AI to screen for heart disease | New women's health VC fund | postpartum support lacking in US

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

Apr 10, 2024

Hi! Welcome to issue #48 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 8 April 2024).

🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:

❤️ The AI start-ups using mammograms to screen for heart disease in women
📈 First close of new women’s health VC fund KIDRON Capital
👶🏼 Postpartum support lacking in America - new Elvie report
🩺 NHS announces first-ever clinical director for England

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❤️ The start-ups improving heart disease diagnosis

red heart balloon under blue sky during daytime — Photo by Jean-Louis Paulin on Unsplash

Heart health in women declines rapidly after menopause because we lose the protective effects of oestrogen.

That’s according to a new study presented at the American College of Cardiology.

The authors now call for more preventative screening:

“Women are underscreened and undertreated, especially post-menopausal women, who have a barrage of new risk factors that many are not aware of.”

So while policies need to change when it comes to screening, we also need more education too.

Because although deaths from heart disease are 13 times the rate of breast cancer, women tend to think the opposite.

Women are twice as likely to say breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women as they are to say heart disease.

So imagine you’re a start-up working on heart disease screening what would you do?

Could you take that insight and turn it into your biggest advantage?

Genexia, an AI start-up out of Cincinnati, is doing just that.

The founders are working on AI technology that can detect heart disease in women during a routine mammogram.

CEO Dino Martis told Spectrum News:

“By attaching this diagnostic to the mammogram, which [women] conveniently and regularly engage with, we are now able to proactively identify coronary artery disease for women who previously would have not been diagnosed.”

The idea itself is not totally new - there has been growing evidence over the past few years that mammograms may help with heart disease detection in women. And several other start-ups are developing this technology too, including iCAD and Curemetrix.

Genexia is now testing its approach at University Hospitals in Cleveland and is working on getting FDA approval. It hopes to be able to roll-out the screening over the next few years.

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📌 Rock Health’s Q1 digital health funding report: Rock Health’s quarterly reports are always a useful insight into funding trends in the general digital health scene. This past quarter we’ve seen overall funding down 25% YoY to $2.7b, although the number of deals was up slightly to 133 showing a trend of smaller average deal sizes. (Source: Rock Health)

📌 KIDRON Capital Assets announces first close of women’s health VC fund. We trailed this news last week, but now it’s official. The new VC fund dedicated to women’s health has marked its first close with inaugural investments in three US-based companies: Beyond Medicine (menopause), Portal (oncology) and Renal Guard (kidney injury). (Source: FutureFemHealth)

🌟 More news from this week

silver and black necklace on yellow textile — Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

📌 UK: Stella adds GLP-1s as part of menopause treatment Virtual menopause clinic Stella has partnered with WeGovy provider Habitual so that its patients can explore weight loss medication as part of menopause treatment. Weight gain is a common unwanted experience during menopause - and while there are no published studies about the effects of taking HRT and GLP-1s together, Stella’s Dr Ria Gotbi writes: “there have now been thousands of women taking both types of medications at the same time and there have not been concerning reports of any adverse interactions”. An interesting partnership and perhaps there will be more like this in the menopause space. (Source: Stella)

📌 UK: Theramex deal could see HRT price rises, says competition watchdog. After last year’s HRT shortages there are now signs that higher prices could be on the way for patients. That’s if women’s health company Theramex is allowed to buy the European rights to two drugs from US company Viatris. But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concerns and the companies have been asked to respond. (Source: Daily Mirror)

📌 Canada: How FemTech companies are tackling gender health gaps: Founder Rachel Bartholomew conceived her business idea while undergoing cancer treatment. She founded pelvic rehabilitation device Hyivy as well as FemTech Canada. A super interesting overview of Canada’s FemTech market including Marlow, Cross-Border Impact Ventures, Reya Health and more. (Source: The Globe and Mail)

📌 US: Celebrity Drew Barrymore taps the menopause gold rush. You can always rely on straight-talking, evidence-based Dr Jen Gunter to tell it like it is when it comes to useless products. In her latest article. Dr Jen debunks a new line of menopause supplements, endorsed by Drew Barrymore, for unwarranted claims and secret proprietary blends. In Dr Jen’s words: “Cashing in on the menopause gold rush isn’t championing women’s health, it’s nothing more than garden variety misogyny because in my opinion you must have little regard for women to exploit the gaps in medicine so egregiously.” (Source: The Vajenda)

📌 Global: ”We have a great opportunity to make sexual and reproductive services and information more accessible to all” The World Health Organisation has released a new technical brief providing information on the application of AI in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Its purpose is to help ensure the risks and opportunities of AI in sexual and reproductive health are considered. (Source: World Health Organisation)

🩸 Research and women’s health news

📌 US: ‘America needs to do more to support moms.’ - new report. Elvie teams up with Motherly to survey 1,000 US moms about their postpartum journeys. The key finding? The current support system has more hurdles than helping hands. A reminder that often, FemTech can only get us so far - and its time the system took action. (Source: Elvie - the motherload report)

📌 AthenaDAO launches open calls for research submissions. Have you heard of Athena DAO? It’s a decentralised community for research in women’s health. Apply now for two open calls on translational research: Women’s Hormonal Health ($5,000 award) or Gynecologic Oncology ($50k-$150k). Hurry they close soon!

📄 Govt & policy news

📌 England: NHS announces first-ever national clinical director for women’s health. A milestone moment for both the NHS and for women’s health. Dr Sue Mann is a consultant and lead for women’s health in London who will now help to implement the Women’s Health Strategy and support the roll-out of women’s health hubs across England. “Our Strategy sets out the importance of dedicated expertise and leadership in women’s health and this new role will help make sure women’s needs are at the heart of decision making.” said Maria Caulfield, Minister for Women’s Health Strategy. (Source: FutureFemHealth)

📌 UK: Menopause training should be mandatory for all school leaders, says UK union. 75% of the school workforce is female meaning menopause is a key issue. Now the National Education Union (NEU) says staff with symptoms are being penalised for sickness absence and disciplined on competency grounds. It calls for mandatory menopause policy in schools, work environment assessments and increased training. (Source: The Guardian

📌 UK: “It’s a system that was created by men for men” As we ramp up towards the rumoured election, Conservative MP and Health Secretary Victoria Atkins speaks to Stylist magazine. She says she’s determined to make more positive changes for women’s health. (Source: Stylist Magazine)