People are uncomfortable talking about women’s health—but we need to talk about this topic that affects half the world’s population, says today’s new episode of the I am BIO Podcast.
“Vagina is not a four-letter word. It is a body part,” says Sabrina Martucci Johnson, CEO of Dare Bioscience, which advances therapies for women. “We’re running a study right now in female sexual arousal disorder, and how shocking it has been to learn that almost to a woman, the participants in this study have not talked about the condition with their partner until they enrolled.”
By the numbers: 27% of health products generating more than $500 million in annual revenues are for women’s health, and women control 80% of household health decisions. Yet only 2% of the development pipeline is for women’s products.
“We are an enormous market with unmet needs,” says Elizabeth Bailey, Managing Director of RH Capital, a venture capital fund that supports women innovators and entrepreneurs while tapping a lucrative market. “We should be a great investment bet.”
Women’s health should go beyond contraception, fertility, and maternal health, to include conditions disproportionately and differently affecting women, such as cardiovascular disease, says Martucci Johnson. Yet, despite their eagerness to participate, women are underrepresented in clinical trials.
The way forward: “As more women speak up about their health needs, and as the number of female leaders in biotech and venture funds increases, we will see more innovation in women’s health,” says podcast host Theresa Brady.
Listen: The episode is available now on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
More Health News:
The New York Times: Monkeypox has a new name: mpox
“The World Health Organization, responding to complaints that the word monkeypox conjures up racist tropes and stigmatizes patients, is recommending that the name of the disease be changed to mpox. Both names are to be used for a year until monkeypox is phased out.”
