Blue pills like these are some of the most recognisable,
well-researched and well-funded drugs on the market.
They're predominantly used by men with erectile dysfunction.
4.3 million men in the U.K. experience erectile problems.
And now female-oriented drug with as much money and research behind it?
Well, there isn't one. And that's a pattern that tracks right across women's healthcare.
Investment and research for women's health is less than men's,
even though we make up more than half of the population.
Of the nearly 3,000 health tech investments in the U.S. between 2011 and 2020,
only 3% have gone specifically towards women's health.
But a relatively new sector of tech, described as FemTech, is trying to change that.
This isn't a watch. It's a wristband that combats hot flushes
usually experienced by women going through the menopause.
And this isn't any old bodysuit. It uses a combination of heat
and vibrations to tackle bad cramps that are often suffered by people
whilst they're on their period.
And it's all controlled through an app on your phone.
It's estimated that the women's health sector will be worth $1 trillion by 2027.
But investors aren't necessarily jumping on board.
So why is that?
And are women, society and the economy more widely missing out as a result?
All through my life, my health needs have been different to those of a male.
At some point in the future, I might choose to have children,
I'll probably go through the menopause and will likely continue to have health issues until I'm this age.
So that makes me, along with roughly 50% of the population,
a lifelong customer for products targeting the female health market.
We're not a niche market, but we are a market with big data gaps.
Several analytics platforms have been founded in the last couple of years
to try and tackle that problem, including FemHealth Insights.
I realized that the women's health innovation industry was not coagulated.
We were so disjointed.
In fact, we kept seeing people re-reinvent the same products.
Why are there 20 organic cotton tampon companies?
And well, maybe one of those reasons is that they don't know about the other 19.
We couldn't find each other, we couldn't support each other,
we couldn't form partnerships etc.
What happened after about two years of running this organization,
was I found myself sitting upon a lot of data and data is gold nowadays; it is the new oil.
Last year after Roe v. Wade was overturned
in the United States, we noticed this huge uptick in corporations asking themselves:
'What is our women's health strategy?'
FemTech is getting more attention now than it's ever had before.
This includes programs to pair FemTech startups with mentors and investors
and region-specific organizations.
As of 2023, there are seven women's health-specific investment funds globally,
with around $125 million between them and notable names getting involved,
including the Bank of America, Eli Lilly and the American Hospital Association.
And the extra financing is having the desired impact.
Over 60% of FemTech startups were founded between 2018 and 2022,
while the number of FemTech companies has grown by 1,000% in the last 10 years.
The breadth of products in the FemTech space is expanding too.
Tania Boler founded Elvie back in 2013, after she noticed the lack of products
designed for new mothers.
When I started Elvie, I didn't really have a plan in mind.
I saw a problem I wanted to solve, which is the fact that
particularly for pregnant women and new mums, there's nothing
in terms of pelvic floor health.
There were these horrible medical devices.
And I thought, why can't we design something that's effective and fun and easy to use?
Once we've launched that product, I recognized that all technology for women
was horribly designed, but really nothing worse than the breast pump.
It was a noisy, big, cumbersome product. So again, I thought, in the era of driverless cars,
why can't we have better tech?
How do you get to 2013 and you still don't have
a breast pump that works effectively?
I mean, it's kind of crazy, right? But these issues are taboo issues.
Anything to do, our products are to do with breasts, they're to do with vaginas,
so people don't like to talk about it.
The way I look at it is when there's been a taboo, it means there's neglect
which means there's opportunity for innovation.
And it's not just the obviously-female issues where my needs are different to men's.
Women's health is not just periods and babies.
It is also bone health, gut health, brain health, heart health.
Women are not little men.
We really do need to dedicate ourselves to not just studying
human health, but teasing that apart into male health and female health as well.
Research shows that there are sex and gender differences across all aspects of health,
from autism to heart attacks, and even HIV and Alzheimer's,
because the way male and female cells behave are different.
Even migraines disproportionately affect women.
The male body has long been considered the default for creating
health solutions, and it's a long-held belief.
Caroline Criado Perez, writer of the acclaimed book "Invisible Women",
traced the habit of prioritizing men's health over women's to Ancient Greece.
90% of decisions about health and nutrition and everything is taken by women in the household.
Why do you think it's the case that women don't necessarily have access
to those funds or companies that are women-health focused?
Women tend to have the ideas, develop the innovation and go it alone,
don't even think about seeking investment.
When they do, they find that investors, 90% of whom are men, don't understand
the health needs that women are trying to address.
For a long time, we didn't talk about the menopause, we didn't talk about periods,
infertility, those are things that people dealt with on their own.
But that's changed.
You need an investor that says, 'I know this is an issue.
I've been talking about this, thinking about this,
dreaming about this, looking for a deal just like this.'
And unfortunately, a lot of times what happens is women's health companies will go
to the pitch room, to the boardroom, and say, 'Hi, I'm working on heavy menstrual bleeding'.
And when you have 90% plus of investors being male, in the United States at least,
all of a sudden, you have a room full of people who say: 'I don't know if I even know what that is,
or if I'm passionate about it, I don't even know if it's a real issue.'
And then all of a sudden that that's a huge deflation of the intuition part.
And then, if you don't have the data to back it up, you can't get behind it.
And so that's one of many reasons why investment is just not flowing
into women's health yet, even though it's a trillion-dollar market.
But we're not just talking about benefiting women when it comes to taking female health more seriously.
A study by a nonprofit organisation focusing on funding for women's health research
found that a $300 million investment into improving female health could
generate around $13 billion.
You only need one investor. There are enough men out there
who knew because they had wives or mothers who had experienced problems,
that this is a real issue.
It's good to see that there are now some investor companies who are
focusing specifically on FemTech products.
So that gives you some encouragement.
The FemTech Landscape Report by FemHealth Insights lists
18 different types of products that can fit into the FemTech bracket,
covering everything from medical devices and digital health to clothes.
And there has been a huge boom in innovation in the last couple of years,
which has led to some pretty exciting products on the market.
This headband has been designed to help with symptoms suffered
by people whilst they're on their period.
This band at the front sends signals to the part of the brain controlling emotions,
whilst this band at the back sends waves to the part controlling pain.
The user sits for 20 minutes each day in the run up to their period,
and it would tackle symptoms.
Sustainable period products are also being developed,
which allow sanitary towels and their wrapping
to be flushed down the toilet, preventing them from ending up in landfill.
The FemTech market has also seen the growth in women using female specific health apps.
This one period tracking app has 11 million monthly users.
But are there any risks associated with the sector accelerating at such a fast pace?
When these health tech experts think that they can copy and paste
their strategy from cardiology or gastroenterology into gynaecology,
it just doesn't work.
We do see people coming in, raising a whole bunch of money and then failing.
The investors that were on the fence about it are going to say:
'Well, we don't want to touch it.'
And so I really do recommend to really make sure that they're advising with FemTech experts,
because the more that we assume that women's health is like the rest of healthcare,
the more mistakes that'll happen.
The data suggests that the FemTech sector is flourishing,
and that the benefit to investors and companies getting involved in the space,
and women more widely, could be massive.
If there was more homework done by some of these investors,
they'd understand why this is an area that is ripe for growth and investment.
I think we'll see a few big winners.
I think there'll naturally be some consolidation in this space.
And ultimately, everybody's after the Holy Grail, which is can you become that first ever
global tech brand for women's health?
Our industry is filled with collaborators and optimism
and I'm really excited to see what comes next for us.