Cure has released its 2024 Women’s Health Benchmark Report highlighting that established scientific expertise, robust clinical data, and previous commercial experience are crucial factors for raising capital in women’s health.
“In a world where evidence-based medicine is the currency, the paucity of data about sex-linked differences in disease, drug responses, medtech efficacy and health outcomes is a major handicap when seeking funding,” said Seema Kumar, CEO of Cure. “Having the expertise in science and commercial leadership can override many other factors to raise investments for women’s health, but the best way to start accelerating growth for the sector is to focus on data collection and clinical evidence generation.”
The report, conducted in partnership with the Deerfield Institute, surveyed over 100 leading healthcare CEOs, founders, and investors. It identified a significant challenge: investors demand robust clinical data for funding, but limited early-stage investment makes generating such data prohibitively expensive.
A historical gap in research has contributed to these challenges. Women were not included in clinical trials until 1993, and it wasn’t until 2014 that the National Institutes of Health required the inclusion of both male and female animals in most funded preclinical research.
The findings were presented during a special event at Cure’s campus, which included a panel discussion featuring Katherine Andersen, Seema Kumar, Viq Pervaaz, Wegrzyn and Jenica Patterson, PhD. The event also celebrated New York-based companies selected as awardees of ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health, which has allocated $113 million to seed innovation in women’s health research.
