The month of October was so busy in women’s health that I had to be very brief on each update. Let’s explore some of them!
- Oct 1st, The research funded by NIHR and led by the University of Birmingham (Lancet Oncology)
compared all currently available tests to diagnose ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women head-to-head in a high-quality diagnostic test accuracy study. When delivered by NHS sonographers who were appropriately trained and received quality assurance, the IOTA ADNEX model (which checks how the lump looked like on ultrasound) had the best accuracy of all and could detect up to 96% of women with ovarian cancer.
- Oct 2d, Hyivy Health, a Canada-based femtech pelvic health startup, raised
$2M led by Zcube – Zambon Research Venture. Hyivy Health is creating rehab devices for women with pelvic based cancers and diseases.
- Oct 3d, Foreground Capital
, a new venture firm dedicated to advancing women’s health innovation was launched
.
- Oct 8th, Maven Clinic, a virtual clinic for women’s and family health, raised $125M
led by StepStone Group at 1.7 billion evaluation, with participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia and others to enhance its partnerships in maternity care. Maven Clinic is the first unicorn in the space of virtual care for women’s and family health.
- Oct 9th, in Italy, a startup
Health Triage
and GISMa, the Italian Mammographic Screening Group, started
a new collaboration aimed at improving mammographic screening programs through the application of AI.?In particular, the aim is to evaluate the effects of a technology dedicated to identifying negative cases in screening. GISMa will work with Health Triage to evaluate the application in clinical practice through a clinical study.
- Oct 21st, Oura added
17 specific tags to help women track and manage perimenopause, documenting the symptoms, understanding the connection between perimenopause and sleep. Oura also partnered with a number of startups around menopause, like Hertility, to provide comprehensive support to women.?
- On Oct 30th, Oura also announced the addition of?Fertile Window
?to its Cycle Insights feature, allowing women to estimate most fertile days.
- Oct 22d, The research
(eLife) based on the data from the UK Biobank data analysed MRI brain scans from 2000 women, revealing results about how menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) might influence brain ageing. The findings showed that current MHT users revealed a higher brain age gap, indicating their brains appeared older than expected for their age. In contrast, women who had previously used MHT displayed no significant differences in brain ageing compared to those who had never used it.
This study contributes to the ongoing conversation about MHT, showing why it’s necessary for more extensive research to guide women in making informed decisions about their health during menopause.
- Oct 23d, Johns Hopkins University & Clue partnered on the?largest study to date
?examining the relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, mood, and the menstrual cycle. Deidentified data was collected from 32,000 participants during 2016 - 2020. The study showed that GI symptoms such as bloating, constipation, diarrhea were significantly more frequent in luteal than follicular phase with a stronger effect observed during PMS. Also, mod symptoms were positively associated with GI symptoms across menstrual cycle.
- Oct 25d, Nordic Women’s Health Innovation Hub
was launched to connect the ecosystem in the Nordics.
- Oct 26th, Colgate collaborated
with GenM to introduce a dental product line catering specifically to menopausal women, addressing changes in oral health. A notable 28% of post-menopausal women risk tooth loss within five years. I believe we will see more and more players repurposing their products for women in the coming year, and consumer segment is just a start.
- Oct 28th, Level Zero Health
is working to create a continuous hormone monitoring
medical device.
- Oct 29th, Lindus Health launched
an “All-in-One Women’s?Health CRO” offering CRO and technology solutions bespoke to running clinical trials for women’s health products. Again, I think this move confirms we will see even more industry players turning to women's health in 2025.
Co Founder @Pausetiv | Femtech | Entrepreneur | Menopause Care | MBA
3 周Sabrina Scarpati SynDiag
Women's Health | Driving healthcare innovation & strategy | Startup advisory | Innovation Director
3 周Health Triage Luca Petroni Hyivy Health Federica Destro Zambon Nordic Women's Health Hub Lindus Health Hertility