WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A collaboration of advocacy organizations, innovators, investors, clinicians, and industry leaders, today launch the Women’s Health Innovation Coalition along with a new portal, womens.health. The members of the Coalition are committed individually and collectively to drive initiatives to promote greater gender-specific health data transparency, to spur investment in women’s health innovation, and to use innovation to produce health outcomes for all. With the support of dotHealth, LLC, the new web portal serves as a log of important resources, news, policy, research, and the status of legislative and scientific initiatives to advance women’s health innovation.
In the current pandemic, data suggests that women have shown a less severe response to COVID-19. This has led researchers to look into how the female sex hormones may play a vital role in the immune response against COVID-19. “We don’t yet know why,” commented Anula Jayasuriya, MD, PhD, MBA, founder and Managing Director of EXXclaim Capital. “But COVID-19 is yet another urgent reason why we must study sexes and genders differently.” This Coalition creates opportunities to fill these gaps and source innovative solutions to address these unmet needs and advance personalized care for all.
Coalition members to date include: 2020 Mom, American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc. (AARDA), American Bone Health, Vermillion, Inc. / ASPiRA Laboratories, Avestria Ventures, Bloomer Tech, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s Project W, Elidah, Elix, FEMSelect, Femtech Collective, Femtech Focus, Femtech Insider, Future of Femtech, G2G Consulting, Gals bio Ltd, Gennev, Health Education and Learning, LLC (HEAL, LLC), Healthy Women, HLTH Foundation, Hormone Health Network, Life Whisperer, Madorra, Mahmee, Mymee, Pandia Health, Presagen, Pulse, RiskLD, Spark Solutions for Growth, SteelSky Ventures, The Fibroid Foundation, Univfy, VentriNova, Women of Wearables, and Women's Health Innovation Summit.
The Coalition members’ efforts highlight The Framework of Women’s Health, which include Autoimmune Diseases, Oncology, Bone Health, Gynecological Health, Reproductive Health, Heart Health, and Cognitive and Brain Health.
One in five women will have a stroke in her lifetime, disproportionately affecting women of color. This places strokes as the fourth leading cause of death for women, closely trailed by Alzheimer’s disease. Almost two-thirds of all Alzheimer’s patients are women. In addition, adverse drug effects are nearly twice as common for women as compared to men, according to FDA’s database. “Research examining the impact of both biologic sex and gendered exposures is essential in understanding differences in disease between men and women- and improving the health of women,” added Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD, MPH, Chief Division of Women's Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital.
This initiative is spearheaded by Springboard Enterprises, a network of influencers, investors, and innovators dedicated to building high growth companies led by women. “Women’s health is multi-faceted and complex,” commented Springboard Enterprises alumna and Coalition partner Rachel Braun Scherl, co-founder and Managing Director of Spark Solution for Growth. “Importantly, women’s health is big business and the businesses in the space are focused on funding companies and innovation that provide better solutions and improved outcomes. As part of this effort, the Women's Health Innovation Coalition will support that innovation, channel the investment, and support the growth of solutions that have the potential to positively impact women’s health.”
Key information on the development and advancements of women’s health innovative solutions will be available via the Coalition’s web portal. The Women’s Health Innovation Coalition will continue to drive a joint mission to rethink and reinvent the way women’s health is approached.
About the Women’s Health Innovation Coalition
The Women’s Health Innovation Coalition brings together leading organizations, innovators, investors, clinicians, analysts, and executives with the shared goal of advancing innovation in women’s health solutions. The Coalition promotes greater attention to gender specific research, and investment in diseases, conditions, and indications that exclusively or predominantly impact women. The Coalition members have a mutual mission to promote greater gender-relevant data transparency to spur innovation and better health outcomes for all.
About Springboard Enterprises
Springboard’s mission is to accelerate the growth of entrepreneurial companies led by women through access to essential resources and a global community of experts. We are a leading network of influencers, investors and innovators dedicated to building high-growth companies led by women who are transforming industries in technology and life science.
The measure of our success is in the results. Since 2000, nearly 800 Springboard portfolio companies seeking investment and human capital for product development and expansion have created over $20B in value, are revenue generators and job creators. With 200 exits to strategic acquirers and 20 IPOs, Springboard Entrepreneurs are Transforming Industries.
