Every Monday we share a quick “best of” from the week that was with our Inner Circle members. What’s trending in the Femtech Insider community and beyond? We’ve got you covered! In this week's brief we talk about...
Spotlight: Reproductive Longevity
Is it time to cancel menopause?" asked Grace Rubenstein recently in her piece for Neo.Life. And the answer is... Well.. Not yet. Indeed a lot of ovarian research, however, is working towards this goal. To extend fertility and lengthen live by delaying menopause or - the ultimate moonshot - ending it altogether. Reproductive Longevity is an active field of research with potentially huge medical, but also societal implications.
Why Reproductive Longevity Matters
Consider a scenario where women are not constrained in their reproductive choices by a limited and immutable biological clock and could instead choose a time that is right for them to start their families: a world where women are not subject to the detrimental health effects of reduced reproductive hormone levels. The implications for social, economic and personal empowerment from that freedom of choice and freedom from health risks would be extraordinary. By extending their reproductive span, we seek to empower women with more control over their lives and at the same time delay the onset of age-related diseases. We want to ensure that one day women will have parity and options in their reproductive choices.
Biotech Startups Focused on Ovarian Biology
- Celmatix (recently achieved a key preclinical milestone in its premature menopause prevention drug program)
- Forendo Pharma (acq. by Organon)
- Gameto (recently raised $23M)
- Oviva (recently raised $11.5M to focus on ovarian aging)
Resources
Want to learn more about the field? Below are some resources to get you started!
➡️ Series: Making Reproductive Longevity a Reality (Garrison Lab)
➡️ Whitepaper: The Unspoken Truth: Reproductive Longevity and Equality Affects Us All (GCRLE)
The Business of Biotech
RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager investing in healthcare and life science companies dedicated to developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, services, and research tools.
To empower the next generation of biotech leaders, RA Capital has developed a number of short,intensive courses on a variety of advanced topics relevant to the business of biotechnology. All materials and course are on-demand and free for admitted participants.
A great resource for anyone interested in learning more about the business of biotech! 👇
"Our goal is to examine, interrogate, and teach practical and theoretical concepts fundamental to the biotech industry that aren't being presented anywhere else."
The courses are organized in different tiers addressingbiotech professionals, board members and patients alike.
10 out of 10. Recommend. 🙂
Startup Spotlight
Wanna know which startups get us excited these days? Below are a few of our recent (femtech-healthtech-ish) discoveries. 👀
Silatha is a solution to retain women in the workplace through meditation & peer2peer support. The company is currently crowdfunding on Seeders.
Malama helps women manage diabetes in pregnancy with ease. Current Y-Combinator participant.
Almond is like OneMedical for women's health making it easy to get great ObGyn care, both at in-person and over telehealth. Current Y-Combinator participant.
