Tech companies focus on women’s health

Technologies to follow the menstrual cycle or diagnose endometriosis: the “femtech”, Companies dedicated to women’s health are growing rapidly and meet needs that have not previously been sufficiently taken into consideration.

In Lille, northern France, Lattice medical works on breast reconstruction for women who have had breast ablation due to cancer. The startup, created in 2017, has developed a system that regenerates the patient’s adipose tissues.

“We propose an alternative to silicone: a 3D printed implant that uses a fully absorbable biomaterial,” explains Julien Payen, co-founder of the company. Lattice medical would like to have a clinical trial by the end of the year.

The work of associations
This is one of the solutions proposed in the emerging femtech market, contraction between the English words female e technology. The rather generic term indicates companies that have developed technologies designed to improve women’s health and well-being.

For example, it can be diagnostic tools, in particular for endometriosis. The Ziwig startup, co-founded and chaired by entrepreneur Yahya El Mir, has developed a salivary test that allows the early detection of any form of endometriosis in patients for whom a diagnosis was often not possible. The test is based on high-throughput sequencing technology and uses artificial intelligence. Ziwig also created a control platform for the patients.

“We are discussing with the health authorities in France”, explains Yahya El Mir, underlining the existence of “a sensitivity of the public thanks to the work of patient associations”.

The menstrual cycle is also the subject of new applications intended, for example, to determine the time of ovulation. Without forgetting the post-partum solutions.

The Strasbourg startup Fizimed has developed a probe for perineum re-education connected to an application that allows every woman to perform the exercises “at home, in complete intimacy and with a playful aspect to promote motivation”, explains Emeline Hahn , founder of Fizimed. The probe, already on the market, is even reimbursable by public health in Germany.

Words censored
The rise of these companies marks a change in mentality and highlights issues neglected to date and which represent the peculiarities of women’s health. “It is a movement that moves forward. There has been a change of approach on the subject. So far there has been more talk of prostate cancer than endometriosis, ”said Chahra Louafi, director of investment and health specialist for BpiFrance, the French public investment bank. “The word has been cleared”.

According to the US consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, this market is expected to reach $ 50 billion in 2024. Estimates may vary, but essentially the sector affects half of the planet’s population. Payen is optimistic: “Quality projects are on the rise” attracting large investments.

But entrepreneurs admit there is still a long way to go. “Femtechs make use of little-used words, like vagina and uterus. Not everyone goes at the same speed, ”Hahn points out. On some online sales platforms in the United States, “some pelvic rehabilitation devices are considered to be adult products,” he explains with regret. Sometimes the algorithms of the net giants turn health products into dildos. “There is still a lot to do”, reiterates Yahya El Mir, underlining that investors “usually prefer classic pathologies that attract large resources. In the field of women’s health there is little interest ”.

It’s a question of money, but that’s not all. “Funding is an important element, but these issues should be at the heart of a social project,” concludes El Mir.

(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)