How Women’s Health Could Benefit From the Digital-Health Takeover Era

• Ro’s $ 225 million acquisition of Modern Fertility has put women’s health back into the spotlight.
• Women’s health startups will benefit from the digital health consolidation, key players say.
• Investor interest in “point solutions” could expand to other overlooked aspects of women’s health.

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After a few large digital health acquisitions in late spring, some experts are predicting the beginning of an era of consolidation.

The consolidation that began with the $ 225 million acquisition of newborn Modern Fertility by digital health startup Ro only increases the competitiveness of the industry, Sari Kaganoff, general manager at Rock Health, previously told Insider.

“In a world that is backed by venture capital, good is not good enough,” said Kaganoff. “If you want to go up against Ro, you need as much money, if not more, than them to grow and perform in this market.”

For women’s health startups, this consolidation-friendly atmosphere is likely to be a boon to future growth, according to four experts and key players in the field. From 2011 to 2020, only 3% of digital health startups that attract venture funding specialized in women’s health, according to a Rock Health analysis.

Following the recent $ 62 million donation from fertility startup Kindbody, CEO Gina Bartasi said more investments in women’s health are coming.

“There is no doubt about that,” she said, citing investor interest in addressing the health concerns of women of reproductive age.

Strategic interest in “point solutions” could expand to other areas of women’s health

Liz Meyerdirk, CEO of

Birth control
– Prescription startup The Pill Club said “point solutions”, or products and services that address only one aspect of health care, emerged in women’s health.

This can make it difficult for them to reach the point of exponential sales growth that venture companies are expected to see.

Based on her experience in business development at Uber where she oversaw the creation of

Uber eats
, Meyerdirk said women’s health companies are responsive to consumer needs but may not be able to achieve the “critical mass” to become a profitable, publicly traded company.

“Honestly, the more companies that can be successful, the better,” said Meyerdirk. “Ultimately, it just means women get more tools and services to meet their needs.”

A new wave of consolidation is likely to spell renewed enthusiasm for women’s health as a whole, Maneesha Ghiya, partner at FemHealth Ventures, told Insider. Ghiya’s women-run VC fund, launched in May, hopes to raise $ 50 million for startups looking to advance women’s health.

Ghiya said the fact that women’s health is on the radar for strategic acquisitions is a promising sign that venture capital is moving towards recognition of the importance and market value of women’s health.

Although the nine highest funded women’s health startups focus on fertility, OB-GYN specialty treatment, and other aspects of reproductive health, Ghiya said she thinks businesses like Ro’s acquisition of Modern Fertility are becoming a bigger focus other, overlooked aspects of women’s health.

These include autoimmune diseases, which affect far more women than men, and cardiovascular diseases, which can appear differently in women.

Taking into account consumer healthcare costs, the women’s health market could be worth well over $ 50 billion

In terms of the total addressable market, the opportunities in women’s health are enormous, said Rachel Blank, founder of Allara, a specialist care platform for people with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). A 2018 report by Frost & Sullivan found the women’s health market could be valued at $ 50 billion by 2025.

For example, with PCOS, the direct cost of treatment may not be significant. But, said Blank, considering comorbidities like

high cholesterol
,

diabetes
and uterine cancer, the health care costs for PCOS could be an additional $ 30,000 to $ 50,000 per year.

“If we can actually prevent them from getting diabetes, that is an enormous amount of expense to manage,” said Blank.

source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/how-womens-health-could-benefit-from-the-digital-health-takeover-era/