This 5-minute report is dedicated to Fibroids.
In the following 5 minutes you’ll learn:
- Introduction: Why This Matters
- Trends: What Opportunities Are There?
- Innovators: Who’s Driving Change?
So let’s dive right in!
Introduction: Why this matters
Uterine fibroids are common benign tumors that grow in the wall of the uterus and can lead to severe menstrual bleeding, pelvic, back or abdominal pain, frequent urination, bowel disfunction or constipation. Other symptoms associated with fibroids are pregnancy complications or infertility. Fibroids are almost always benign and non-cancerous.
Fibroids are often discovered and diagnosed on imaging in asymptomatic women.
Around 70-80% of women will develop fibroids at some time in their lifetime, however not all of them will develop symptoms or require treatment. In general the condition is more prevalent in women of color and older women who are also more likely to experience severe symptoms.
Treatment is usually either medical, surgical or a combination of both depending on the severity of symptoms and whether or not a woman wishes to preserve her fertility.
Overall the different treatment strategies are:
- Medicine for symptoms (e.g. heavy menstrual bleeding)
- Medicine to shrink fibroids
- Surgery (e.g. hysterectomy)
- Non-surgical procedures
Medical therapy can be used to treat the various symptoms caused by fibroids, especially excessive menstrual bleeding. Anti-inflammatory medicines, the contraceptive pill or progesterone are also commonly prescribed. Another option are levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine systems or GnRH, a class of medications that temporarily shrink fibroids.
If medical therapy is unsuccessful and fibroid symptoms persist, surgery is often the only option. Hysterectomy is a major surgical procedure in which the uterus is removed. During a myomectomy fibroids are removed while preserving the uterus, which makes it a better treatment option for women who want to have children in the future.
Uterine artery embolization is a relatively new procedure and an alternative to open surgery for fibroids. Embolization is a technique that blocks the blood flow to the fibroid or fibroids, causing them to shrink or disappear. This also often decreases symptoms.
Trends: What opportunities are there?
Overall the goal of innovative fibroid treatment is to prevent unnecessarily invasive treatments like hysterectomies. Due to the nature of the condition innovators focus on less invasive treatment options, especially the relatively new embolization. New medications are being developed to address excessive menstrual bleeding. Digital health has a minor role to play and is currently focused on patient education.
Surgical treatments dominate the market as hysterectomy and myomectomy are the most common procedures. Embolization, however, is growing in popularity.
Based on the treatment options outlined above our categorization follows the technology:
- Surgical Therapy
- Medical Therapy
- Digital Health
Innovators: Who’s Driving Change?
Surgical Therapy
Minerva Surgical, who acquired Boston Scientific’s Intrauterine portfolio last year, delivers a suite of devices that treat the root causes of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding. The company’s focus is on minimally invasive intrauterine treatments.
Gynesonics’ Sonata System combines real-time intrauterine ultrasound guidance with targeted radiofrequency ablation in an incisionless procedure to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids.
Hologic’s Acessa procedure is a minimally invasive, outpatient treatment for fibroids of all types and sizes and in all locations within the uterine wall.
Advanced Surgical Concepts’ PnuemoLiner allows surgeons to provide the most minimally invasive option when extraction of tissue is necessary.
CooperSurgical develops of medical devices used to advance minimally invasive surgery.
Medtech company CONMED specializes in the development of products and services, that allow physicians to deliver high quality care and improved patient outcomes in areas such as laparoscopic surgery. The company’s VCare product line is used in the treatment of fibroid and endometriosis.
Medtronic’s TruClear hysteroscopic tissue removal system uses a mechanical approach to remove intrauterine tissue.
Olympus's Contained Tissue Extraction (CTE) system combines tissue containment device PneumoLiner and laparoscopic PK Morcellator to provide appropriate low-risk patients with laparoscopic surgery options to avoid open hysterectomy or myomectomy.
Medical Therapy
Myovant’s Myfembree is a new medicine for the control of heavy menstrual bleeding due to uterine fibroids.
ObsEva’s Linzagolix (Yselty UF) is a novel orally administered GnRH receptor antagonist that potentially provides effective management of heavy menstrual bleeding associated with uterine fibroids.
Abbvie’s ORIAHNN is an FDA approved oral medication to help lighten heavy periods due to uterine fibroids
OCON, known for its intra uterine ball non hormonal contraceptive and spherical endometrial ablation device is exploring ways to apply its technology to the treatment of fibroids
Digital Health
Responsum Health is on a mission to improve chronic disease patients’ knowledge, empower them to make informed healthcare decisions, and provide support and community through powerful disease-specific apps, like Reponsum for Fibroids.
