Daré Bioscience and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) will kick off 2025 with a powerful message at Nasdaq MarketSite: “Dare to Invest in Women’s Health.” The organizations will mark the first trading day of the year by ringing the closing bell, bringing attention to the critical need for investment in women’s health innovation.
The ceremony will highlight Daré’s recent selection as an ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health awardee, receiving $10 million in funding over two years through the program’s launchpad track for later-stage health solutions. The company’s lead candidate, DARE-HPV, is being developed as a potential first-in-category treatment for HPV-related cervical disease.
Sabrina Martucci Johnson, President and CEO of Daré Bioscience, and ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn will lead the closing bell ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. The event’s message underscores the growing focus on women’s health innovation in the biotech sector.
The bell-ringing comes amid ARPA-H’s broader $110 million investment in women’s health research, distributed across 23 projects spanning six key focus areas. Daré’s award falls under the “Women’s Health at Home” category, supporting the development of their home-based HPV treatment solution.
DARE-HPV addresses a significant unmet need in women’s health. Despite advances in HPV screening and vaccination, an estimated 100,000 women are treated for cervical precancer annually in the U.S., with approximately 13,820 new cases of invasive cervical cancer expected to be diagnosed in 2024. The company aims to provide the first FDA-approved pharmaceutical intervention for treating both late-stage cervical lesions and earlier stage HPV-related cervical infections.
