November 15, 2022 - News, Trend Watch

Spotlight: Autoimmune Diseases

At the start of each week we share a quick “best of” from the week that was with our Inner Circle members. In this week's brief we talk about...

Spotlight: Autoimmune Diseases
Startup Spotlight: Hermone, Le Lab de l'Endo & Dulcy
And more!

Spotlight: Autoimmune Diseases:

Friends, it's about time we talk about autoimmune diseases. A couple of months ago Mymee acquired Emilyn (a multiple sclerosis app), and Aila Health just joined the latest cohort of UCSF's Rosenman Institute. Then last week WellTheory, another company focused on autoimmune diseases, made the headlines, as it came out or stealth with $7.2M in seed funding. Quite a bit of activity as of late I'd say! And frankly it's about time!

➡️ What are Autoimmune Diseases?

Autoimmune Disease happens when the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells. According to Hopkins Medicine, there are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases that affect a wide range of body parts.

Autoimmune diseases common in women include:

Rheumatoid athritis
Psoriasis
Psoriatic arthritis
Lupus
Thyroid diseases
Type 1 diabetes
Multiple Sclerosis

💡 For those interested in learning more, the Global Autoimmune Institute shares a full list of Autoimmune Diseases here.

For many patients it can be difficult to get a diagnosis as there usually isn’t a single test, that can be used. Autoimmune disease is usually diagnosed if a patient presents with certain symptoms in combination with specific biomarkers.

➡️ Why it matters

Autoimmune diseases, sometimes referred to as "the silent pandemic, affect approximately 50M people in the U.S. alone. This number has more than doubled over the past 30 years. Research suggests that factors like Western diet, toxins, stress and even viruses like long COVID, play a role in triggering autoimmunity. Autoimmune diseases are often invisible, yet the struggles those affected are facing, are all too real.

Autoimmune patients are often marginalized, stigmatized, or unrecognized by the healthcare system and unfortunately, women largely bear the brunt of these systemic shortcomings. Autoimmune diseases are estimated to affect between 5 and 8% of the US population, and approximately 80% of these patients are women.

Certain conditions effect people of color more dramatically. Black women and Hispanic women are diagnosed with lupus at close to 3x the rate of non-Hispanic white women and have a mortality rate that is between 2-3x higher than that of white women.

➡️ Innovation x Autoimmune Diseases

Unsurprisingly much innovation in the autoimmune disease space has been focused on biotech and pharma, but more startups in the digital health space are also stepping up to address the challenges of patients through precision medicine, digital therapeutics and better diagnostic pathways.

The digital health companies mentioned earlier (WellTheory, Emilyn & Aila Health) are examples here. Despite these 3 examples of companies trying to move the needle for patients struggling with autoimmune diseases, the space remains largely underserved with much need and room for innovation. Hopefully given the recent track record and funding announcement, we will see more innovators step up and build for these patient populations in the future. The demand for better solutions is unquestionable there.

Any other startups in this space we should have an eye on? Let us know!