Transforming Women’s Health Research, Transforming Markets

By Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, ARPA-H Director?

Though women make up over half of the U.S. population, women’s health research remains critically underfunded. Science only began to significantly include women in health research in 1993, but even today, women are underrepresented, contributing to big gaps in our understanding and quality of care. The oversights are an important medical issue — and they are also a missed business opportunity with far-reaching economic implications.??

Recently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) took a bold step in addressing this disparity. Through our Sprint for Women’s Health, we awarded $113 million to 24 innovators developing solutions for health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women. But this is just the beginning.?

A New Approach to Government Funding

Our Sprint for Women’s Health isn’t business as usual. Prior to launching this initiative, we asked a diverse group of investors, entrepreneurs, and those in industry for their advice on everything from technical and scientific barriers to regulatory, reimbursement, and manufacturing obstacles. Then we reimagined the funding process itself, creating:?

• Flexible funding models: “Spark” awards (~$3M) for early-stage research and “Launchpad” awards (up to $10M) for market-ready solutions.?
• A streamlined application: Three-page white papers and live pitches, mirroring venture capital processes. And,?
• Ecosystem partnerships: Collaborations with investors, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to identify market gaps and overcome barriers.?

The response was overwhelming. We received over 1,700 submissions from 45 states and D.C., and 34 countries — 20 times our usual response rate. Of the 24 awardees, nine are small businesses, and 30% are receiving funds from the government for the first time.?

Our two dozen awardees are at the frontiers of the biggest, toughest issues in women’s health. They are tackling cancer, ovarian health, gynecological and endometriosis care, obstetrics, menopause, lymphatics, pain management, and neurological and cardiovascular conditions. Their innovative approaches span biomarker research, diagnostics, therapeutics, devices, and digital health solutions. All awardees’ ideas are big, but their teams are often small enough or new enough to federal funding that they lack the staff, expertise, or resources that would be needed to respond to a traditional, full-length government grant announcement.?

A Call to Action for Investors and Industry?

The potential in women’s health is immense, but the resources are limited. Over a two-year period, ARPA-H's Sprint will invest in 24 teams, each focused on revolutionary advances in their respective fields, and each poised to transition to private-sector funders or developers at the end of our investment. Moreover, ARPA-H received more worthy Sprint applications than we could fund, and they represent untapped potential and a major opportunity.?

Our goal is to catalyze a new era in women’s health research and innovation. We envision a future where “women's health” is simply “health” – where gender-inclusive research is the norm, not the exception.?

To the business community: This is your opportunity to be at the forefront of a rapidly growing market. Together, we can close the gender gap in health research, improve outcomes, and unlock enormous economic potential. The time to invest in women’s health is now, and ARPA-H is eager to play a role in catalyzing this opportunity.?