By Matthew Walls, Digital Health Age | July 25, 2019

Matthew Walls, chairman of Concepta Diagnostics, explores the way in which new technologies have acted as a tool to empower women, and looks ahead to the future of femtech.

Not long ago, matters related to the menstrual cycle and periods, hormonal changes and women’s reproductive health remained shrouded in mystery and myth. Thankfully, things are now changing. Digital advances are leading to greater awareness and de-stigmatising of issues surrounding women’s reproductive health. With information and technology leaping forwards in terms of personalised internet search solutions, home hubs, data mining and AI, women are increasingly depending on apps and connected devices to become more self-reliant and home-based in their health assessment. At the same time, the rise in awareness of women’s health is making the world more gender sensitive presenting an escalating market segment. Encapsulating this revolution, “Femtech” has become a common buzz-word to describe technology innovation that helps women to accurately and easily manage their health.

From Maven’s virtual health clinics for women, period and fertility trackers, connected breast pumps to menopause management apps, there is a steady momentum gathering around technology in the women’s health market. Thanks to the launch of the first ever FDA approved digital fertility app (Natural Cycle), women’s reproductive health has taken a centre stage- garnering attention from investors across the globe. Going by the recent trends, companies focusing on women’s reproductive health are on the rise with VC’s and savvy investors taking note of innovations in this area.

Recent news has seen Femtech make headlines with the New York Times stating “women struggling to get pregnant turn to Fertility Apps”. According to a study conducted by Frost and Sullivan, women’s health market is estimated to be worth over $50 billion by 2025 out of which global fertility service market alone is set to reach $30 billion by 2023 (Allied Market Research). This data is further supported by the World Bank report stating fertility rates in many parts of the world including the US, UK and Japan have continued to drop since the 1960s. No wonder then, according to PitchBook, Femtech has attracted at least $241 million in VC funding in 2017, as compared to $62 million in 2012 and the numbers are shown rising since.

In addition, the average age of a woman choosing to get pregnant with her first child has increased. As a result, with biological clocks ticking, better information on reproductive health is imperative. For most women, natural conception is preferred when compared to the more cost prohibitive and emotionally difficult treatments such as IVF. Women are now in search of specific products that will enable them to understand the science behind their fertility, and critically, provide them with the knowledge to understand their chances of a natural pregnancy alongside  tracking hormonal health – all leading to a positive natural conception journey.   

The future is tailor made

While there is a plethora of fertility choices available in the market, the future is clearly inching towards tailor made, user centric solutions based on persoanlised individual data, as opposed to generic, non-specific products and testing solutions. When it comes to reproductive health, many factors come into play including individual health, gene makeup, age etc. Clearly, what works for one woman will not work for another. Individual data in this scenario is critical and deviation from accuracy means women miss their most fertile days for conception and the product fails to deliver on its objective of a natural pregnancy. This is uncompromisable for the user, since these apps/reproductive solutions are literally life altering.

For this reason, the women’s health space is moving towards Direct-to-Women (D2W) solutions backed by scientific findings while technologies like AI and the Internet are being explored to further innovate. New solutions based on hormone level detection are on rise which enable consumers to monitor real time the rate-of-change in their hormones and the find the ideal time frame for conception, their dates of ovulation, their ovarian reserve and estimated time to hit menopause.

Greater emphasis on science behind femtech

There is a desparate need for scientific research in this area, as women’s healthcare products and services account for a lowly 4% of the overall R&D funding as stated by a report by Frost and Sullivan.

A study conducted by Columbia University of Medical Center throws some light on the ineffectiveness of fertility apps and lack of scientific research. According to the study, out of 1,116 free period app in Apple’s App store, only 20 were accurate, out of which only 5% cited involvement with medical science. Most apps did not provide measured evidence-base interventions or valuable information, further cutting the chord of scientific research required to better inform and educate the user on their most fertile days.

Concepta’s myLotus, is the only fertility monitor driven by a user’s personal data and hormonal measures. The user can ´quantitatively´ measure their Luteinising Hormone (LH) levels from a simple urine sample and measure the ´rate-of-change´of these levels preceding ovulation providing greater accuracy and timing of intercourse to deliver a natural conception. Users track their hormone levels with a free accompanying myLotus app and can for the first time identify their individual LH hormonal signature and most fertile days. The key technology differentiator is myLotus use of an individuals personal data as opposed to traditional threshold products based on an average woman. This is a game changer in the scenario of natural conception. The myLotus technology also allows women to track their hormones and reproductive health for its longevitywith a womans hormone profile and ‘signature’ changing depending on her age, fertility and with the onset of menopause.

Today women are tech savvy and want to understand products from both a scientific perspective as well as understanding how these products measure and inform their personal health. Future technology solutions will continue to be backed by medical evidence base and improved outcomes in order to gain consumer loyalty.

An opportunity to reign

It is promising to see more female entrepreneurs spearheading the Femtech revolution. Be it the period tracking app by Ida Tin, Founder and CEO of Clue or the pelvic floor Kegel tracker by Tania Boler, CEO of Elvie, women are tapping into the emerging opportunities this market has to offer. As the market is still young with huge emerging opportunities, Femtech companies are finding investors in female VCs who want to make an impact in women’s health. After all, Femtech is all about empowering women and creating a future where information technology and healthcare support is available for all women.