Menopause Unveils Itself As The Next Big Opportunity In Femtech

By 2025, there will be over 1 billion women experiencing menopause in the world, which will be 12% of the entire world population of 8 billion. Vasomotor Symptoms (VMS), including hot flashes and night sweats, are experienced by approximately 75% of them. These, along with other conditions, can lead to a significant reduction in a woman’s quality of life, increased utilization of medical resources and an overall loss of productivity. Research estimates that menopausal women experiencing VMS had 121% higher utilization of healthcare resources and nearly 60% more work productivity loss days compared to women without symptoms. This equals to over $2,100 per woman per year in added costs on the healthcare system and overall economy. The additional healthcare burden of menopausal women experiencing VMS is approximately $660 billion globally; the burden on the economy due to productivity losses can total over $150 billion. The combined total is more than $810 billion.

Menopause is also linked to other disease conditions. Fluctuating estrogen levels during menopause are associated with a woman’s increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, depleting musculoskeletal health, and overall cognitive decline and dementia. Persistent hot flashes increase the risk of women developing cardiovascular disorders. In addition, the average bone density decreases faster in women when they reach their 50s compared to men, increasing their risk of osteoporosis. Hence, menopause is not just a biological transition but a warning sign of chronic illnesses that have been identified as those increasing the burden on healthcare systems worldwide.

The chart below highlights the size of the burden of these secondary conditions associated with menopause.

Women also face tremendous emotional burden during this phase. Half of the menopausal women in developed nations felt they couldn’t discuss their symptoms at work due to the stigma associated with the condition. We cannot even fathom what women face in developing countries and rural settings. Unfortunately, even developed healthcare systems around the world lack medical support specifically trained in the management of menopause. According to findings from a survey conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons in 2017-18, only 1 in 5 women in the US received a referral to a menopause specialist. Of the 60% of women who seek medical attention, an appalling 75% of them are left untreated. Further, due to the ephemeral nature of menopause symptoms, it is possible that clinicians manage these symptoms less aggressively than other medical conditions. This leads to women self-treating by reading unfiltered content online.

The generation of women approaching menopause is tech-savvy

Most women from Generation X, who are now in their late 40s and approaching menopause, are technologically proficient and digitally literate. They manage their lives, relationships and finances using social media as well as new technologies. These women are comfortable with their smartphones, well aligned to the concept of “digitalization of health,” and a strong addressable market for Femtech companies. However, Femtech has been more active in the area of menstrual health and pregnancy and has already seen funding worth $241 million in the first quarter of 2019. Only a handful of companies are targeting women’s midlife health issues, and this space remains heavily underfunded.

The light at the end of the tunnel

The most commonly used menopause management method is hormone therapy, which can give symptomatic relief from VMS. However, research suggests it can raise the risk of blood clots, stroke, and some cancers, so it is not a preferred therapy. Bioidentical hormone therapies have also gained some traction as manufacturers claim that they are safer than menopausal hormone therapy. However, they are not regulated by drug authorities and not reimbursed. Their high cost (in the range of $450 for three months) is also a major barrier to their uptake. OTC products to treat conditions such as vaginal dryness and pain continue to be commonly used. Women have shown a desire to adopt lifestyle interventions as a way to manage symptoms, and exercise, yoga and certain diets may help reduce menopause symptoms, including sleep and mood problems, stress, and muscle and joint pain. The Femtech industry can find strong applications in menopause management. Certain digital health start-ups have identified this opportunity and offer B2C digital health tools such as mobile apps to guide menopausal women through this phase with lifestyle intervention tips and, more recently, online telehealth consultations.

·        Genneve offers an online menopause assessment and launched an online telehealth clinic early this year. Women can take telehealth appointments via video chat with healthcare practitioners in their state; most of the practitioners are certified by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Video consultations are out-of-pocket expenses and priced at $65 for a physician and $45 for a nurse. The company also provides curated content and nutrition and lifestyle recommendations for each woman’s unique situation based on their assessment. The company began as an online original content publisher and now sells feminine care products.

·        Rory starts the consumer’s journey with a telehealth consultation that costs $15. Board-certified, US-licensed physicians review the information and make a personalized treatment recommendation. They also prescribe medication for hot flashes, vaginal dryness, sleep and loss of eyelashes—both prescription and OTC—which are also available on the portal and start as low as $13. The medication is delivered to the woman’s address, quickly and discreetly.

·        Lisa Health is another start-up that is working to support women approaching menopause with accurate information. It starts with the users taking an online assessment of their current health and mood status. The company aims to specialize in providing information on lifestyle interventions as a safe and assured way to manage symptoms.

·        AI is finding applications, too. A Silicon Valley start-up, Menopause.ai (acquired by supplement start-up Seed Health) is a platform to better understand menopause and offers personalized OTC solutions for menopausal women.

Women approaching menopause view these as strong support and a reliable alternative to hormone therapy and will be willing to give them all a try. However, it is shocking to see only a handful of companies addressing the glaring gap in the healthcare system. The stigma and silence associated with menopause are preventing technology developers and investors from seeing the massive potential this market holds. The industry needs to wake up to this obvious opportunity and address it immediately as this is a fertile (pun unintended) market and can promise strong growth with time and more investments. While the demand is strong (although still discrete), the number of technology solutions is still low and must be addressed. In the coming years, digital solutions for menopause management should become more mainstream and aim to end the stigma associated with this important biological transition.

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This article was written with contributions from Chandni Mathur, Digital Health Industry Analyst in Frost & Sullivan’s Transformational Health Practice.