Funding and IPO News:
- Serigen Mediproducts, a company that offers a range of medical products using silk protein, has secured a seed funding round of Rs 5.8 crore from Colossa Ventures an BioAngels (supported by IAN and BIRAC).
- Healthvista India, the parent company of the healthtech startup Portea Medical, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering (IPO), per a SEBI update last week. Portea filed its draft papers with the market regulator in July 2022, along with an addendum to its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) on March 10, 2023.
Global Funding:
- Medherant, a startup created as a spinout from the University of Warwick, has raised £3M to commence clinical trials for its hormone patch designed for women experiencing menopause symptoms.
- Tally Health, a consumer biotechnology company created to change the way we age, has raised $10M in seed funding. Tally Health’s proprietary and science-based tools aim to improve healthspan and extend longevity at the cellular level with TallyAge epigenetic age tests, personalized lifestyle recommendations, and research- backed longevity supplements.
- Felix, a Canadian digital health startup has raised $10M in Series A funding led by Whitecap Venture Partners. Other participants in the round include Mantella Venture Partners, BrandProject and US based H Ventures.
- The preclinical biotech start-up Vitarka Therapeutics has secured £1.27m to “revolutionise” intracellular drug delivery through tumour-targeted technology. Founded in 2021 by Dr Vineeta Tripathi, the company is developing combination medicines using RNAi therapies and a non-viral drug delivery platform to help combat late-stage cancers.
- TRL Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing a next-generation cell therapy platform for solid tumours, announced a $10 million seed financing led by General Catalyst with participation from Intermountain Health, FACIT and other investors.
FemTech News:
- The latest survey of chief investment officers of long-horizon equity funds shows (again) that they seek to invest in companies that prioritize long-term business fundamentals over short-term targets.
- Women with endometriosis have about three times higher healthcare costs on average. Furthermore, approximately half of women with endometriosis reported earning less money as a result of the impact of endometriosis symptoms
- Women with endometriosis have about three times higher healthcare costs on average. Furthermore, approximately half of women with endometriosis reported earning less money as a result of the impact of endometriosis symptoms
- The Indian healthcare sector has made immense progress in terms of infrastructure, technology and healthcare delivery systems, but the occurrence of medical sponges and surgical equipment being left in a patient’s body is still a black mark on the system.
- Approximately 80 percent of women indicate that menopause interferes with their lives, and roughly one-third of these women also experience depression.
- The Indian government announced plans to launch a new mobile app called "She-Box" to help women report workplace harassment. The app will allow women to file complaints anonymously and will provide them with access to legal and counseling services.
Global Companies:
- Menopause Platform Gennev Partners with LifeStance to Expand Its Mental Health Offering. Gennev is now partnering with LifeStance, a mental healthcare provider that offers integrated in-person and virtual services. Goal of the partnership is to better integrate physical and mental healthcare to enhance menopause patient outcomes.
- InsideTracker, a personal health analysis and data-driven wellness guide that helps people increase their healthspan and live healthier longer, announced that the company’s popular Ultimate Plan will now provide female users with analysis and optimization guidance for three new biomarkers pivotal to increasing women’s healthspan and navigating menopause.
- Fertility Startup Alife Releases Its First B2C Product: An IVF App for Patients. The company is launching its first patient-facing innovation, a mobile application with the goal to help patients navigate their IVF journey from beginning to end.
- Amara Therapeutics, a medical technology start-up based in Ireland, has introduced BladderBoss as its latest product. BladderBoss is an 8-week program that combines CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) , bladder training and pelvic health pilates to assist women in managing their overactive bladder (OAB).
- A Spanish app is set to become the Netflix of medical education with a new approach to clinical training. Xpeer is an app that aims to make medical education easy, cheap and accessible through bite-sized videos, audios and podcasts, allowing healthcare professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest medical advances.
FemTech India Partner Company News:
- Sanchit Agarwal, Newmi CEO was in conversation with Smita Sahay Kumar, founder Medicircle.in to speak about “Women at work” solutions.
- Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Gyno Cup explained how prioritizing the health and hygiene of women can transform society. The same was featured as an article in News18.
- Shaili Chopra, founder of Gytree gave an informative talk to Outlook on using technology to change the way women think of health. Drugs, Diagnostics, and Pharma
- Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) announced the launch of its new state- of-the-art Regional Reference Laboratory in Bengaluru, Karnataka, as part of the expansion of its diagnostics network.
- Manipal Group has announced that Temasek has signed definitive agreements to acquire an additional 41% stake in Manipal Health Enterprises (MHE). Allegro Capital Private Limited acted as the financial advisor on this transaction.
- HistoIndex inks partnership with VCU’s Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health in the study of liver diseases
Government News:
- Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will reportedly soon meet the representatives of online drug stores to discuss concerns around the space. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s discussions will focus on concerns around data privacy and irrational use of prescription drugs by these platforms. Government reportedly concerned about e-pharmacies collecting area-wise data on consumption of drugs. This comes a month after reports emerged that the Centre is mulling banning digital pharmacies over data privacy concerns.
- A parliamentary panel which looked into the budget allocation for the Ministry of Ayush and its schemes to strengthen the Indian Systems of Medicines (ISM) for the year 2023-24 said that there is an urgent need for converging all the Ayush drug related standard setting exercises to a single authority in accordance with the drug regulations. It also recommended the Ministry to harmonise all the monographs published or being published through various pharmacopoeias.
Research, Insights, and Market Projections:
- A research group at the Department of Biomedicine of the University of Basel has now discovered that the loss of the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene leads to a reduced response to alpelisib. The researchers also found that the dietary supplement N- acetylcysteine restores the sensitivity of cancer cells to this treatment.
- A change in medication can benefit patients on blood pressure-lowering therapies significantly more than increasing the dose of their current medication. A recent study from Uppsala University that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrates this (JAMA). In this study, four different blood pressure-lowering medications were tested out on 280 individuals over the course of a year.
- Higher Body Mass Index is a risk factor for delayed wound healing in patients undergoing breast reduction surgery (reduction mammaplasty), according to a study published in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
- According to a study published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, people who have sleep problems might be more likely to have a stroke.
Jobs on Board:
- Elda Health is looking for a Marketing Specialist. Elda is a digital wellness platform that understands and stands for women, globally.
- Kindly is looking for a Head of Growth. Kindly is Asia’s only diagnostics-first platform for sexual care and performance health.
