Unlocking Investment and Innovation in Women’s Health

Cure’s 2024 Women’s Health Benchmark Report, Unlocking the Opportunity: What's Needed to Innovate, Invest and Impact Women's Health, highlights the growing momentum in women’s health investment. The report underscores the critical need for robust clinical data and scientific expertise to drive funding and innovation in this sector.

Despite recent progress, women’s health remains significantly underfunded, with only 2% of 2023’s $41.2 billion in venture funding allocated to this field. The lack of historical data on sex-based differences in health outcomes continues to be a major barrier to investment. However, the report finds that women’s health is evolving beyond traditional areas such as fertility and menopause, with increasing interest in therapeutic areas like neurology, cardiovascular disease, and immunology.

Key findings include:

• Investment Trends: While venture capital funding for women’s health has increased by 314% since 2018, biopharma has surpassed FemTech as the leading sector for investment.
• Data Deficit: The exclusion of women from clinical trials until 1993 has led to a persistent gap in research, limiting scientific understanding and investment opportunities.
• Success Factors for Investment: Investors prioritise companies with strong scientific expertise, a track record of commercial success, and proven data over gender diversity in leadership.
• Role of Government and Policy: Initiatives such as the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research and ARPA-H’s funding efforts are helping address the data gap, but broader policy changes and investment incentives are needed.

The report concludes that unlocking the trillion-dollar opportunity in women’s health will require a shift towards data-driven innovation, increased public and private investment, and a strategic focus on sex-based health differences.

Download the 2024 Women's Health Benchmark Report, Unlocking the Opportunity: What's Needed to Innovate, Invest and Impact Women's Health.

About Cure

Our Mission - Accelerating Advances in Health

Cure is a premier healthcare innovation campus in the heart of New York City, with a mission to accelerate advances in health.

Cure's thriving ecosystem convenes and supports synergies among visionary entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators working to transform medicines, medtech and vaccines, from concept through commercialization and care delivery. Cure's industry-leading event programming focuses on thought leader discussions of critical healthcare innovation topics. Cure fosters collaborative partnerships with peer organizations across the spectrum of healthcare, from academic and private organizations to non-profits and government entities.

The on-campus Cure C.ollaboration Residency companies include startups and established enterprises. Cure's offers resources to members including mentoring, networking, and business services. Cure’s state-of-the-art facilities offer laboratories, flexible office spaces and premium venues including an education center, conference center, and iconic rooftop.

For further information, visit https://wewillcure.com/