Issue #86 – The Future of Pregnancy care in India

Happy FemTech Friday 🎉

Last week we highlighted app adoption rates in India with metrics. This week, I am excited to present our latest research report, which shows huge potential in the pregnancy care market in India. Additionally, we conducted surveys involving 40,000 women to gain insights into the challenges and prevalent issues. This survey was conducted with the assistance of our volunteers and partner clinics across tier 1, 2, and 3 cities in India. Digital care is expanding beyond tier 1 cities, emphasising a significant opportunity in the Indian market—an estimated $7 billion opportunity in pregnancy care and beyond. 

This report encompasses several key aspects:

• Pregnancy Care Market Size, Breakdown by categories.

• Challenges Faced by Indian Women during Pregnancy. 

• Hormonal Changes during Pregnancy. 

• Fertility Rates by Age Group,Insights into fertility trends.

• Birth Rates by States, Regional variations.

• Pregnancy Failures in India, Addressing a sensitive issue.

• FemTech App Growth in Pregnancy and Maternal Care,Emerging technologies.

The future of pregnancy care in India appears promising, with ample room for growth and innovation. Full report insights on my LinkedIn post.

Your Friend, 

Navneet

• Tata Capital Healthcare Fund II (TCHF II), the healthcare focused private equity fund of Tata Capital Ltd., announced that it has invested an amount of $20 million in Orbicular Pharmaceutical Technologies for an undisclosed equity stake.
• Greenday’s Better Nutrition, a lineup of biofortified products, recently secured an undisclosed investment from PV Sindhu, the renowned badminton player.

• ITM, a Munich, Germany-based radiopharmaceutical biotech company, raised €188M in funding. The round was led by Temasek with participation from funds managed by BlackRock, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), ATHOS and Carbyne.
  
• Captain T Cell, a Schoenefeld/Berlin, Germany-based biotechnology company developing T cells against solid tumors, raised €8.5M in Seed funding.The company intends to use the funds to further progress its lead program towards the clinic along with a novel allogeneic platform for off-the-shelf treatments of solid tumors.
• Bioptha, a Paris, France-based preclinical biotech company, raised €6.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by UI Investissement (via the Pertinence Invest 2 Fund, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners), Elaia and GO Capital, with participation from Unither Pharmaceuticals and HTL Biotechnology.
• Axena Health, a medical device company focused on female pelvic health, has closed on an additional $9.4 million in its Series A fundraising. Cross-Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) coinvested alongside existing investors AXA IM Alts through its Global Healthcare Private Equity Strategy, KOFA Healthcare and Avestria Ventures

• Sports women make fewer mistakes and have quicker reactions when they are on their period, a study suggests. Tests designed to mimic the mental processes involved in team sports assessed 241 women’s reaction time, attention, accuracy, and spatial cognition – 14 days apart. They felt worse when menstruating and thought their performance would suffer – but on average, they were 12% faster at ball-moving tasks and 25% more likely to pass a test of their anticipation skills.
• One out of every six people have symptoms when they stop taking antidepressants – fewer than previously thought, a review of previous studies suggests. The researchers say their findings will help inform doctors and patients “without causing undue alarm”. The Lancet Psychiatry review looked at data from 79 trials involving more than 20,000 patients.
• A major cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been discovered by UK scientists.They found a weak spot in our DNA that is present in 95% of people with the disease. It makes it much easier for some immune cells to go haywire and drive excessive inflammation in the bowels.
• Selected ovarian cancer risk factors vary for women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, researchers from Sydney have found. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, focused on factors that increase or reduce risk in women of Asian, native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Hispanic and Non-Hispanic white groups.
• Experts have called for more “robust” cybersecurity measures after a damning report revealed that femtech apps are “coercing” users into entering sensitive information that could put them at risk. New research has found that women’s health apps are exposing users to “unnecessary” privacy and safety risks through their poor data-handling practices
• A new type of blood test could predict the recurrence of breast cancer in high-risk patients, months or even years before they relapse, research has shown. A team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, used an ultra-sensitive liquid biopsy to detect the presence of tiny amounts of cancer DNA left in the body following treatment for early breast cancer.
• Iceland’s first billion-dollar ‘unicorn’ – which harnesses fish skin to treat wounds and burns – is now aiming to help women recovering from mastectomies. It utilises North-Atlantic cod skins to create a natural graft material that enables cellular therapy, tissue regeneration and protection.
• With the changing  dynamic landscape of Indian health care, cost considerations are increasingly influencing every aspect of service delivery and patient care. With rising health disparities and uneven access to medical services, the need for equitable and sustainable health-care policies has never been more urgent than now.
• Weight loss and overall health benefits are the two biggest reasons people choose to begin the ketogenic diet, according to recent research. Over the last few years, the diet known colloquially as “keto” has risen as a popular weight loss mechanism. But is it actually your best bet?
• A new digital platform aimed at helping people struggling with eating disorders has launched in the UK. Eating disorders are serious and often fatal illnesses that are associated with severe disturbances in people’s eating behaviours and related thoughts and emotions.

• Sirona recently concluded its Strategy Innovations Case Study Challenge 4.0 and identified IIM Bodh Gaya and IIM Rohtak as the winners.
• Yon E Global, our ecosystem company, was selected for the Well4tech program to pitch to the cohort.
• The Moomly is now live on Plum, and is now offering health benefits and insurance and accessible healthcare benefits.

• The South Korean medical AI company Lunit has completed its acquisition of rival company Volpara Health Technologies in a deal valued at US$193m. Lunit, which develops medical AI software for cancer screening and treatment, first announced the deal in December and was able to complete the entire transaction in eight months.
• Quantro Therapeutics, a pioneer in the discovery of first-in-class transcription factor targeting cancer treatments, announced that the company has reached a key milestone in its joint R&D programme with Boehringer Ingelheim.
• AstraZeneca announced the successful completion of the acquisition of Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation radioconjugates (RCs). The acquisition marks a major step forward in AstraZeneca delivering on its ambition to transform cancer treatment and outcomes for patients by replacing traditional regimens like chemotherapy and radiotherapy with more targeted treatments.
• Innominds, a leading digital transformation and product engineering company, in partnership with SCIINV Biosciences has launched AMRx, an advanced AI/ML-driven digital diagnostic tool designed to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This innovative tool promises to revolutionize the detection and treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections without the need for traditional cultures.

• The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru has rolled out the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s multistate implementation study in Karnataka on prioritising student mental health. 
• The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has unveiled a five-day intensive training programme aimed at preparing assessors for the evaluation of Ayush Healthcare Organizations. 
• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has released a draft version of the guidance for industry on pharmacovigilance requirements for human vaccines, seeking suggestions, objections and comments from the stakeholders within 15 days.

• Schizophrenia in women is widely misunderstood—and misdiagnosed
  Not enough is known about how the disease affects women, who are more likely than men to be overlooked—and more likely to develop the disease in midlife.
• Hepatitis B, C most common causes of viral hepatitis in India – About 257 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) globally

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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