Women's Health 2.0: Beyond Fertility

Women’s health: 2% of VC funding, massive structural gap.
- Market grows $41B (2023) → $66B (2030); 4B women, 80% of healthcare spend.
Pre-1993: women excluded from clinical trials; treatments built on male physiology.
- NIH Revitalization Act (1993) opened federally-funded research to women.
- Still: 80% of surgical studies male-only; 5:1 neuroscience study gap.
Funding pivot: healthtech → biopharma (2019: 44% vs 15%; 2024: near parity).
AI + multi-omics + ex-vivo organ models now accelerating discovery.
- Ex: menstrual blood stem cell biobanks eliminate invasive biopsies entirely.
Autoimmune, Alzheimer’s, CVD, chronic pain — all hit women harder.
- Hashimoto’s 10:1, Graves’ 7:1, Alzheimer’s 2:1 female-to-male ratios.
PCOS (13%), endometriosis (10%), PMDD (3-8%): zero FDA-approved targeted drugs.
- Endometriosis diagnosis delay: 4–11 years. 190M women affected globally.
NFX thesis: systems-level data → root-cause cures, not symptom management.
- Dionysus Health: epigenetic test predicts postpartum depression.
- Renewal Bio: genetically identical egg cells for later-life parenthood.

X discourse

@ProfAliceS: “desexed language may undermine clear communication, is poorly accepted and risks obscuring women’s health needs.” (775 likes)
@DrPlantel: “Want to improve women’s health? Celebrate declining teen pregnancy rates. Support women having children on their own ter” (206 likes)
@sharrond62: “Women’s medicine has been neglected forever. But first you have to acknowledge what a woman is. Back to basics.. biologi” (145 likes)
@StuartAndrew: “Women deserve a truly comprehensive approach to their health.” (9 likes)
@MumsnetTowers: “questions about whether the urgency and investment are there to deliver real change in practice.” (5 likes)
@WomensHearts2: “We should start looking at this as part of women’s health going forward.” (1 likes)

Omri Drory, Ph.D. and Anastasia Budinskaya — NFX (venture capital firm) · 2025-08-13 · Read on nfx.com