💌 Issue 81: The $15.7 billion call to action for women’s health research | Nua Surgical's C-section device | Predicting coronary risk

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

Dec 11, 2024

Hi! Welcome to issue #81 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 9 December 2024).

🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:

🙏🏼 The $15.7 billion call to action for women’s health research
🤰🏼 Nua Surgical raises €6.5 million for C-section device
✅ ConTIPI Medical launches pelvic organ prolapse device ‘ProVate’
❤️ New scoring system accurately predicts coronary risk in women.

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

🙏🏼 How do we actually close the women’s health research gap?

Image: National Academic of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Many fundamental questions about women’s health remain unaddressed by research. There are far-reaching impacts - including how we train medical professionals, what we fund (or don’t fund) in women’s health and how we develop innovation.

The gap isn’t closing anytime soon. At the National Institute of Health (NIH) many women’s health conditions (such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine fibroids, and vulvodynia) and women-specific life stages (including menopause) are not within the purview of any of the 27 existing institutes or centers.

Funding for women’s health research has actually decreased as a share of overall NIH funding over the last decade - despite steady increases in the agency’s budget.

And just 8.8 percent of the NIH grant spending from 2013 to 2023 was focused on women’s health research.

A $15.7 billion call to action

But this week, a new, congressionally mandated report has proposed smart answers for how we might materially begin to close the gap, starting with the NIH.

In its report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has recommended significant areas for change:

A new, well-funded institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated to women’s health. It would have primary responsibility to lead, conduct, and support research on female physiology and chromosomal differences, reproductive milestones, and female-specific conditions not already covered by an NIH institute.
New funding of $15.7 billion over five years from Congress: This should include $4 billion in dedicated funding for the new institute, $11.4 billion to establish a new NIH-wide fund to support and foster interdisciplinary women’s health research, and funding to support and expand career pathways for the field.

Beyond funding, the report says there needs to be a systemic shift in how research is approached. It recommends a stronger emphasis on the study of sex as a biological variable and holding researchers accountable for integrating it into their work. While policies exist, their application has been inconsistent, and incentives are lacking.

Finally, there’s acknowledgement that it’s crucial to build a research workforce that is diverse, well-trained and can carry these initiatives forward. This involves expanding training programs and support for early-career researchers and ensuring fair representation in the peer review process.

While it remains to be seen if this report will be acted upon, it does surface a practical way forward for closing the gender data and research gap.

“We’ve been having the same conversation for three decades about the need to catalyze research on women’s health,” says Sheila P. Burker, one of the study committee’s co-chairs.
“Our report outlines the funding and restructuring that NIH will need to finally realize its long-standing efforts to turn that conversation into action.”

Continue reading our full story here.

💰 Funding, deals and investment news

📌 IRELAND: Nua Surgical raises €6.5 million in Series A financing. Caesarean sections are the most common major surgical procedure globally, with over 30 million performed each year. Nua Surgical is working on a single-use sterile device to help make C-section surgery faster and safer. The SteriCISION C-Section Retractor enables clinicians to deliver the baby, repair tissue and crucially to identify bleeds. This investment will allow for team expansion, the establishment of manufacturing and the meeting of regulatory requirements needed to gain FDA clearance. The round was led by EQT Sciences with participation from new and existing investors. (Continue reading: FinSMEs)

🌟 Industry news from this week

📌 US: ConTIPI Medical launches pelvic organ prolapse device ‘ProVate’: In the US alone, an estimated 3.5 million women experience Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) - where the pelvic support system weakens and causes various surrounding organs to prolapse into the vaginal cavity. Symptoms might include bulging from the vagina, difficulty emptying bowels, through to discomfort and pain. Current pessary options have a high-rate of drop-off as they often aren’t easy to use. ConTIPI’s ‘ProVate’ device works similarly to a menstrual tampon applicator, expanding into place to act as a pessary and allowing women to manage their symptoms in the privacy of their own home. ProVate is now available for physicians across the US to prescribe. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 US: FDA-cleared wearable device for osteopenia treatment open for pre-orders. There’s a global bone health issue, especially for women since one in two women will suffer an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime. ‘Osteoboost’ by Bone Health Technologies (BHT) is the first FDA-cleared prescription non-drug treatment for postmenopausal women with osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis). Earlier this year the company also acquired education company Wellen so that it could also offer science-backed exercise programs as part of its service. (Continue reading: Hit Consultant)

📌 US: Babyscripts ride-share program saved expectant mothers time, money. An uncomplicated pregnancy often sees between 10-15 doctor’s visits. But this means women without reliable transport may miss or skip perinatal and postpartum care. Virtual maternity care program Babyscripts teamed up with ride-sharing app Lyft to offer free rides as a trial in Washington DC. Around 700 rides were provided to 117 unique riders in an initial six month pilot - with talks ongoing about expanding to other US states. (Continue reading: Fierce Healthcare)

📌 US: ShiraTronics initiates pivotal trial for its neuromodulation therapy for chronic migraine. Three times more women experience migraine than men, with hormonal fluctuations understood to play a role. ShiraTronic’s Migraine Therapy System is a small implantable device that sits beneath the skin delivering mild electrical pulses to targeted nerves associated with migraine pain with the aim of disrupting pain signals in the head to relieve or prevent migraines. After securing $66m of funding in October, ShiraTronics has now kicked-off its FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) pivotal trial to evaluate safety and efficacy. (Continue reading: Mass Device)

📌 UK / LITHUANIA: London-based femtech Flo Health expands operations with 130 new roles following unicorn status. After securing $200m in Series C funding in July and reaching unicorn status, it appears female health app Flo Health is on a hiring spree. The scale-up is strengthening its Vilnius location, bringing its combined workforce to over 350 employees across Lithuania and the UK. (Continue reading: EU-startups)

🩸 Research and women’s health news

📌 SPAIN: New scoring system accurately predicts coronary risk in women. Coronary disease in women can present differently than in men, meaning getting risk stratification right for women is particularly important. The new Coronary Risk Score in Women (CORSWO) system uses eight variables, such as age, clinical history, lifestyle and several imaging metrics, to predict risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Experts tested it on a group over 2,000 women aged over 40-years-old, finding a significant correlation. The scoring paper has been detailed in a new paper in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging. (Continue reading: Health Imaging)

📌 GLOBAL: Why Trump’s next presidency poses a new global threat to women’s health. Central to Trump’s global influence on women’s health may be a policy called the ‘Global Gag Rule’, which has been brought in by every Republican president and repealed by every Democrat since its introduction. It says that any organisation receiving US aid money must agree not to perform or promote abortion. This means organizations funded by US aid and providing vital help, for example around gender-based violence, might need to pledge not to provide abortions or face losing money. (Continue reading: Independent)

📌 UK: Influencers selling fake cures for polycystic ovary syndrome. Medically unqualified influencers - many with more than a million followers - are exploiting the absence of an easy medical solution for PCOS by posing as experts and selling fake cures. The BBC World Service tracked the most-watched videos with a “PCOS” hashtag on TikTok and Instagram during the month of September and found that half of them spread false information. (Continue reading: BBC)

📄 Govt & policy news

📌 UK: Welsh Government launches women’s health plan. The NHS in Wales has identified nearly 60 actions across eight areas to improve healthcare for women throughout their lifetime, based on feedback from around 4,000 women. In total, £750,000 will be spent on research for women’s health conditions and women’s health hubs will be set up in every part of Wales by 2026. However, critics say the plan is long overdue, with similar plans published elsewhere in the UK several years ago. (Continue reading: Nation)

📆 Save the date - happening today!

📌 Join Dr Brittany Barreto, Ph.D in conversation with Nyoo Health as she discusses her new book, ‘Unlocking Women’s Health, FemTech and the Quest for Gender Equity’. This book covers 14 areas of women’s health — and doesn’t just tell us where we are, it connects us with the leaders taking action to improve women’s health.

Happening TODAY, Wednesday Dec. 11 at 4:30 pm ET / 9.30pm GMT. Register for free.

✅ Jobs

📌 US: Deputy Director, Contraceptive Research and Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

📌 US: Paid Media Manager, Kindbody

📌 US: HR Business Partner, Maven

📌 US: Director, Market Strategy and Operations, Tia Health

📌 UK: Sales Operations Specialist, Mooncup Ltd

📌 UK: Senior Marketing Copywriter, Flo Health

👩🏽‍💻 What’s your 2025 prediction? Share your perspective!

What’s in store for innovation in women’s health and FemTech in 2025?

I’m compiling a feature for FutureFemHealth and I’d love to quote you in it! What emerging technologies and innovations do you expect to see in 2025? What unmet needs might gain traction? How will the FemTech landscape evolve? And what investment trends or regulatory changes do you foresee?

Simply let me know your prediction(s) and I’ll include a selection of views in the feature - if you’re included I’ll also link to your website/service/product too.

Deadline is Monday 16 December. Add your prediction here

Thanks for reading and 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.

PS. Before you go: 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 January onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com