An executive from the pharmaceutical company Organon tells the Financial Times that women’s health is becoming ” chronically undervalued because the investment world is male-dominated».
Susanne Fielder, in the Merck spin-off, explains that investors often assumed that women’s specific health needs were limited to reproductive health, when, for example, heart disease could hit women much harder. Investing was still “a bit of a man’s world”, she told the FT.
– I think the fact that most investors are men doesn’t always help. We can’t assume people understand what we mean because they actually think it’s niche, she says, adding:
– Most people define women’s health very narrowly. They forget that 50% of our population is made up of women with very specific needs and that we face health care disparities.
Call for investments
Lack of attention to women’s health has meant there has been little innovation in treatments for unwanted pregnancies and conditions such as endometriosis – which causes severe menstrual pain – and the symptoms of menopause. All conditions can affect the ability to be at work.
The American Campaign Women’s health matters estimates that investing $300 million in women’s health research could yield $13 billion in reduced health care costs and improved productivity.
Organon shares have fallen 11% since it began trading separately from Merck, known as MSD outside the United States, in 2021.
Begin to see opportunities in women’s health
Organon has entered into several deals to fill its pipeline of treatments, such as a potential drug for early-stage endometriosis, a device used in hysterectomy, and biosimilars for breast cancer and osteoporosis, which affect far more of women than of men.
Early-stage investors are now starting to see opportunities in women’s health, especially digital innovations such as fertility trackers. Funding increased more than tenfold to $1.4 billion in 2022 from $124 million in 2017, according to digital health fund Rock Health. (Conditions)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using links, which lead directly to our pages. Copying or other forms of use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms see here.
