Issue 14: 🌟 The boom in menopause telehealth; four global growth opportunities for FemTech; unlocking the potential of menstrual blood
Your weekly women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hi! How are you?
Welcome to FutureFemHealth, bringing you this week’s news, analysis and inspiration from the world of women’s health and FemTech (w/c 24 July 2023).
Coming up in today’s issue we’ve got:
Are these the four biggest global growth opportunities for women’s health?
The rise of the menopause telehealth start-up
FemTech growth resources including a guide to designing for accessibility
The Government’s flagship women’s health strategy turns one.
And lots more too.
🌟 FemTech news
📌 Are these the four biggest global growth opportunities for women’s health?
I joined growth advisory firm Frost & Sullivan for a webinar as they revealed the results of in-depth research into the top global growth opportunities for women’s health and FemTech.
Four areas featured in its analysis - cardiovascular health, obesity, mental health and senior care - which can together address an otherwise $8-$10 trillion burden to the global economy over the next six years.
(Read more: FutureFemHealth on LinkedIn)
📌 How telehealth start-ups are trying to fill the menopause care vacuum
The menopause telehealth market is booming right now.
Stat News explores this category by taking a look at the new generation of companies set up in the last five years including Winona, Vira Health, Evernow, Alloy, and Midi Health.
“The market is enormous,” says Trish Costello, founder and CEO of venture investing company Portfolia. “There’s a number of research groups that have defined menopause just as hot flashes and hormone replacement and supplements, and they’ll look at it as maybe a $15 to $18 billion market. But when you start looking at all the parts of women’s health that are impacted, you’re getting into what some people consider a $600-plus billion dollar market.”
Menopause telehealth has the potential to provide greater care experiences and help open access to menopause support and HRT.
Yet, it’s a complex business and the article raises some of the challenges too - including the risk of overprescription of medication.
“The business model incentivises writing the prescriptions,” says Lisa Larkin, president-elect of The Menopause Society.
There are also challenges with integrating telehealth care into a patient’s long-term, local and in-person care, as well as ensuring any systemic HRT is prescribed safely under current guidelines. This latter concern led to the creation of two alternative telehealth start-ups, Odela and Interlude, neither of which prescribe systemic HRT.
Yet with gaps in existing menopause support, a growing appetite from employers to provide menopause as an employee benefit and a new wave of ‘millennial menopausal’ women who may have a preference to virtual care, we’re sure to see telehealth for menopause continue to grow.
(Read more: Stat News - Paywall)
📌 Are women over 65 the next FemTech focus area?
How innovation can help women live healthier, happier lives post-menopause - and why the over-65 segment is so in need of improved healthcare support.
(Read more: FutureFemHealth on LinkedIn)
📌 FemTech startups want to unlock the potential of menstrual blood
German start-up theblood is analysing women’s menstrual blood that they have collected at home using a menstrual cup and working one of Europe's largest research hospitals, Charité in Berlin, to push research on menstrual blood. This article explores the potential of using menstrual blood as a diagnostic tool.
(Read more: Forbes)
📌 Will AI in IVF lead to more babies being born?
Fairtility and Ova feature in this piece about how AI can help to personalise IVF treatment plans, free up time for consultants to spend with patients, reduce the financial and emotional burden of treatment - and hopefully, ultimately, improve success rates.
(Read more: Glamour Magazine)
📌 A new era of digital health funding
Rock Health’s analysis of funding for US digital health in the first half of 2023 shows we are in a new era - with smaller total funding numbers, lower deal volume, and a more concentrated cohort of investors.
(Read more: Rock Health)
🌟 FemTech impact resources
In this new section of the newsletter, I’ll be sharing useful resources to help FemTech start-ups grow their businesses:
A guide to accessibility in FemTech and wellness. How to incorporate accessible design principles so your products can be inclusive and accessible to everyone. (Read more: Nuom)
What are the types of AI used in healthcare? A useful, short explainer, with use cases. (Read more: Healthtech magazine)
Should you use a pitch deck or a memo with investors? A thought-provoking conversation on twitter about why founders might want to reconsider the pitchdeck. (Read more: @taraviswanathan on Twitter)
✏️ Govt & policy news
📌 The Government’s flagship Women’s Health Strategy turns one.
A fresh update from the Government shares next steps including: new content on the NHS website on topics such as adenomyosis and periods; greater IVF transparency with a tool to search NHS-funded IVF treatment in each area; the development of a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool to identify early risks in maternity units; greater support for pregnancy loss; and £25m distributed for women’s health hubs. (Read more: Gov.UK)
✅ Campaign of the week
Women’s health ads are still being censored, so we’re including this campaign against Meta in the newsletter for a second week running.
The two ads below are a shocking case in point. A men’s health ad for erectile dysfunction is approved, while one for endometriosis is blocked.
The Center for Intimacy Justice is leading a campaign and joining with US Senators to call on the FTC to investigate Meta over the censorship of women’s health ads.
If you haven’t already, please sign the CIJ petition here.
That’s all for now. Until next time,
Anna
PS Are you a founder in FemTech or do you provide a service to FemTech companies?
I’m looking to chat to 2-3 founders or service providers for some market research about how I can make FutureFemHealth as useful to you as possible in the future! (resources, directories etc). Could you spare 10-15 minutes to hop on a quick call with me? I’d love to hear from you: anna@futurefemhealth.com THANK YOU!!