Two articles in an August issue of The Globe and Mail caught my attention. The articles were very different – one was in the news section and one was in business – but they converged on a similar theme: women’s health. Women’s health has been under-researched, creating knowledge, data and clinical gaps. Those gaps translate into unmet needs that represent opportunities for innovation. Canada’s femtech ecosystem is taking notice.
Article #1: Raising awareness of endometriosis
A teen from Vancouver, Elize Nocente, is attempting to raise awareness of endometriosis in schools so young people can identify the signs of this complex, chronic disease and seek care earlier. She lives with endometriosis and believes other young people do as well; after all, The Endometriosis Network Canada estimates two million Canadians are affected with this inflammatory disease, in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it and can cause chronic pelvic pain, painful periods, painful sexual intercourse, bowel and bladder symptoms, and infertility.
For too long, painful periods have been dismissed as something people who menstruate simply have to endure. But severe or persistent menstrual pain is not something that should automatically be normalized. For someone who develops symptoms in adolescence, the years before diagnosis can represent decades of recurring pain, disrupted education and work, and reduced quality of life. According to an article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, a survey found “it takes an average of 7-10 years to receive a diagnosis and treatment for the condition.” That’s not a typo.
Part of the broader problem is that women’s health has historically received insufficient research attention. Researchers from the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health reviewed 11 years of grant funding (2009-2020) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and found that only 6 per cent of funding dollars went to female-specific research and the number fell to 4 per cent when female-specific cancer research was excluded. A recent report from MaRS Discovery District states that women were omitted from clinical trials in Canada until 1997 and today make up only 30 per cent of participants. Research funding and clinical-trial participation shape which diseases we understand, which treatments we develop and how well those treatments work for different populations.
Treating endometriosis through regenerative medicine
Dr. Peace Chukwu, who blogs for Signals, has written about the therapeutic potential of menstrual blood-derived stem/stromal cells in endometriosis. In summary, menstrual stem cells (MenSC) may offer a promising new avenue for understanding and treating endometriosis. Researchers are studying how these cells and the substances they release may help identify endometriosis earlier and, in the future, potentially reduce the inflammation, abnormal cell growth and blood-vessel formation that allow endometriosis lesions to develop and persist. While early laboratory research is encouraging, MenSC-based diagnosis and treatments are still experimental and require further research before they can become part of routine care.
A registered clinical study is now investigating menstrual stem cells in endometriosis, illustrating how this field is beginning to move from laboratory research toward clinical investigation.
Article #2: AbCellera looking to solve a common menopause symptom
The second article that caught my attention was about Vancouver-based antibody developer AbCellera and its work on hot flashes, a menopause symptom that up to 80 per cent of women suffer from. AbCellera’s new investigational antibody medicine, called ABCL635, could become, according to AbCellera, “a best-in-class non-hormonal therapy for women in menopause or undergoing hormone-suppressing cancer treatments.” Fingers crossed. You can learn about ABCL635 and hot flashes on AbCellera’s website.
While the results of the trial of 92 women conducted across Canada are very exciting – an investment analyst called the results “practically off the chart on everything measured” – also exciting is the implication that this breakthrough has positioned AbCellera to become Canada’s first homegrown Big Pharma giant. Solving an unmet women’s health problem can become a significant drug-development opportunity.
Why women’s health innovation matters
Closing Canada’s women’s health gap could potentially add $37 billion to Canada’s GDP annually by 2040, according to the McKinsey Health Institute. Further, “Whereas Canada ranks among the top ten countries globally for gender equality and is the ninth-largest economy, it represents the fifth-worst women’s health-related economic gap as a share of its projected 2040 GDP, behind Australia, France, Germany, and Japan. This means Canada has an opportunity to build a stronger economy based on healthier women [bolding is mine].” McKinsey also points out that its $37-billion estimate does not include emerging areas such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.
The Menopause Foundation of Canada says that unmanaged symptoms of menopause cost the Canadian economy an estimated $3.5 billion per year through health care costs, absenteeism, lost productivity ($237 million) and other impacts.
Canada’s femtech sector is rapidly emerging as the world’s third-largest femtech ecosystem, driven by over 170 companies (tracked by Femtech Canada) addressing critical gaps in women’s health. According to an article in Canadian Healthcare Technology, the ecosystem has created more than 1,200 jobs across Canada and “generated over $250 million in private-sector investment.” Femtech Canada says the ecosystem has filed 75 new patents (as of December 2024).
These numbers suggest that women’s health is not simply an underserved health care market. It is becoming an important innovation sector.
Women’s biology has created opportunities for entirely new diagnostics, therapeutics, devices and care models. Watch the TEDx Talks below, by Loulia Kassem, on “Why women’s health is the future of healthcare.” Kassem is the Co-founder and CEO of Rea Diagnostics, a Swiss medtech startup that has developed the first at-home, self-test for preterm births.
Her talk focuses on the need for modern medical technologies for women (not ones created in 1845!), painless ones (think uncomfortable mammogram equipment), and dignified (she references endometriosis). She reminds us that the women’s health gap is not only a health care problem. It is also a research gap, a data gap, a clinical-development gap and an innovation gap. Canada has both a problem to solve and a growing ecosystem capable of solving it.
Stacey Johnson
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