A senior executive in a pharmaceutical company focused on women’s health said the sector is severely undervalued because the investment world is dominated by men.
Susanne Fielder, chief commercial officer of Merck spin-off Organon, said that investors often assume that women’s special health needs are limited to reproductive health, while common autoimmune and heart conditions can affect women more, or in different ways.
Investing is still “being a man”, he told the Financial Times. “I think the fact that most men are not necessarily helpful. . . We can’t assume that people understand what we mean because they really think it’s a niche,” he said.
“Many people define it [women’s health] too narrow, and forget about the fact that 50 percent of our population is women with specific needs and gaps and we face inequalities in health care.
For decades after the Thalidomide scandal, women were excluded from clinical trials if they were pregnant. In 1993, the US Congress passed legislation that mandated that the drug be tested for suitability for the entire population.
But scientific funding bodies and venture capitalists are investing less in women’s health. Organon is the first pharmaceutical company of significant size to focus on this area.
Lack of attention to women’s health means no innovation in treatment for unwanted pregnancies and for potentially debilitating problems, such as endometriosis – which causes severe menstrual pain – and menopausal symptoms.
All three conditions can affect women’s ability to participate in the workforce. The US Women’s Health Matters campaign estimates that a $300m investment in women’s health research could generate $13bn in reduced health costs and increased productivity.
Fielder said it was a “no-brainer” for the government to invest in women’s health because of the “positive economic impact”, pointing to the women’s health strategy in England’s NHS, and the French government’s strategy for endometriosis.
In the UK, increasing awareness of hormone replacement therapy to alleviate menopausal symptoms has led to a surge in demand over the past few years. Organon has developed the production of HRT treatment.
Shares in Organon have fallen 11 percent since it began trading separately from Merck, known as MSD outside the U.S., in 2021. In addition to focusing on women’s health, Organon is taking MSD’s older drugs and making new generic biologic versions, known as biosimilars. .
Since the spin-off, Organon has made several deals to fill the pipeline with treatments, such as potential drugs for early-stage endometriosis, devices used in hysterectomies, and biosimilars for breast cancer and osteoporosis, which affect women more than men. .
Early-stage investors are beginning to recognize opportunities in women’s health, especially digital innovations such as fertility tracking devices. Funding will increase more than tenfold to $1.4bn in 2022, from $124m in 2017, according to digital health fund Rock Health.
Jessica Federer, managing director of Supernode Ventures, which raised $50 million in funding to invest in women’s health technology, said Organon’s deal in the sector should serve as an example for investors.
“Every human being on this planet is a product of women’s health,” she said. “Waiting for male investors to invest in women’s health is clearly not working.”