Source: Unsplash
By: Gila Tulov
When modern medicine took shape, it took male physiology as the default: women were seen as the same as men – only “smaller”. This began to change in the 90s of the last century, in part due to legislation in the US that required women to be included in research funded by the National Institutes of Health. But equality has not yet been achieved, and is far from it. Just to explain, only about 12% of – The $2.4 billion that the US National Institutes of Health spent on Alzheimer’s research funding in 2019 was allocated to women-focused projects, even though nearly two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients are Alzheimer’s patients. Women are underrepresented in clinical trials, and male bias is still felt in medical research. As evidence, women experience Side effects as a result of drugs at twice the rate compared to men – partly because of incorrect dosage recommendations.
A study published in the Journal of Women’s Health in 2021 found that in nearly 75% of cases where a disease primarily affects one sex, the pattern of research funding favors men; That is, either the disease affects women more and suffers from underfunding, or the disease affects men more and is disproportionately funded. But the truth is, the gap is even more significant considering that diseases that are unique to women are not included in global databases at all: an analysis we performed at McKinsey in February 2022 found that only about 1% of the research and innovation budgets in the healthcare field are invested in diseases unique to women, with the exception of the oncology industry.
The pharmaceutical industry grew on this background. The term, which was coined in 2016 by the entrepreneur Ida Tin who developed the Clue application (for tracking the menstrual cycle), describes software, devices, products and services that provide an answer to the most urgent health needs of women. Since then, a wave of Pemtech that is sweeping the world has been mainly led by female entrepreneurs: more than 70% of the 763 Pemtech companies examined have at least one female founder, compared to an average of 20% among new companies in other fields. But when it comes to funding, the situation is still far from perfect, as venture capital is still a male-dominated field, and many funds still tend to ignore the pharmatech industry. Venture capital funds with at least one female founder are twice as likely as others to invest in these companies; But only about 12% of venture capital funds are managed by women. So, although the investment has increased by almost 3 times in the last five years (to a total of 1.9 billion dollars), pharmatech startups still enjoy only 5% of the total funding of digital health technologies.
Initiated by Ida Tin By re: publica from Germany
However, alongside the financing challenges, the pharmatech industry continues to grow in terms of public awareness and the number of startups established, and it can already claim impressive achievements at the very beginning. Pharmatech companies are closing gaps that have not been addressed for many years by established biopharma companies: in regards to women’s health during pregnancy, for example, companies like Tia that builds and develops virtual clinics, or services like The Pill Club that deliver prescriptions to the home, making important treatments and health services accessible to masses of women. Thus, even some of the oldest and largest companies in the field of pharma are now beginning to take their first steps in the field of pharmatech and are establishing new divisions for women’s health.
The size of the Pemtech market is estimated at approximately $22.5 billion worldwide, and forecasts indicate opportunities for growth of up to 16% by 2027. Technologies such as proteomics (the study of the structure and function of proteins) and tissue engineering, for example, can treat diseases such as polycystic ovaries or endometriosis. The pharmatech industry can also raise the accessibility of women to treatment and the quality of the treatment itself, with the help of virtual clinics, innovative methods and home prescription delivery services – more convenient and consumer-friendly solutions. Technology itself is also booming, with wearables and home diagnostic technologies providing solutions that empower women to take charge of their health.
We have before us an extraordinary opportunity to invest in women’s health, placed at the door of an industry that is currently at a significant crossroads. Next-generation drugs, treatments and medical devices can be tailored and more accessible to women’s needs as this market continues to grow. And while women make up about 50% of the world’s population, they use more health care than men, make more health care decisions for their families than men, and spend more money on health care throughout their adult lives. This means the opening of enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs, business owners and investors – and this has enormous consequences not only for women’s health, but also for society as a whole: healthier women produce a stronger economy. The time to act is now.