Issue #97 -A Call for Support

Happy FemTech Friday !  

I’m sitting in my podcast studio, typing up the 97th edition and getting ready to record my next episode. Can you believe we’re approaching our 2-year anniversary next month ! I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been with us and supported us along the way. 

We’ve got some exciting plans for our 2nd birthday, and I’ll share more details soon! 🫶

In the meantime, we need your help. Our friends at Femtech Canada have asked the Canadian Government to allocate $100 million for Women’s Health and Femtech Innovations in the Federal Budget. 

We’re collecting signatures to show public support for this request. Please read the letter and sign up to show your support and get updates here:https://femtech.ca/2025-federal-budget-proposal/

• BeMe Health, a Miami, FL-based digital behavioural health startup, raised $12.5M in funding.
• Borealis Biosciences, a Vancouver, BC-based RNA medicines company, raised $150M in Series A funding.
• Vion Biosciences, a Charlottesville, VA-based life science platform company focused on specialty reagents in the life science research, diagnostic, and drug discovery space, acquired Echelon Biosciences, a Salt Lake City, UT-based supplier of critical materials.
• Nadmed, a Helsinki, Finland-based biotech company developing a testing method to measure all four NADs*, raised €3.5M in Series A funding.
• BioIVT, a Baltimore, MD-based research partner and biospecimen solutions provider for drug and diagnostic development, acquired ZenBio, a Durham, NC-based company which specializes in advanced cell products and services.
• Cairn Surgical, a Lebanon, NH-based medical technology firm, raised $4.5M  in funding.The round was led by Morningside Ventures.
• PhotonPharma, a Fort Collins, CO-based biopharmaceutical company, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.

• People stricken with a severe case of COVID-19 have a higher risk of mental illness in the year following their infection, a new study warns.However, vaccination appears to ward off these effects on mental health, researchers reported Aug. 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
• COVID cases have surged this summer, but a new study suggests that following the Mediterranean diet might spare you from infection. In a review published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, Indonesian researchers discovered that the healthy eating regimen, which centres on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish and heart-healthy fats like olive oil and nuts, lowered the risk of COVID infection.
• One of the most abundant fatty acids in the body — and a key ingredient in the Mediterranean diet — could be a safe, easy and natural cure for bacterial vaginosis, a new lab study suggests.
• The crowded microbial space of the human gut is revealing potential routes to new antibiotics, scientists report. Molecules isolated from studying the gut’s microbiome have yielded unexpected results that could lead to new types of the drugs, said study first author Marcelo Torres, a research associate in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
• A drug under development could provide a much needed option for women seeking relief from hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, new research shows.The drug, elinzanetant, cut the frequency of hot flashes by an average of about 56% after one month of use, and by more than 65% after three months.
• Obese kids are more likely to develop immune-based skin problems like eczema or psoriasis, a new study says. Analysis of more than 2.1 million Korean children between 2009 and 2020 revealed that children who became overweight had a higher risk of developing eczema.
• Eating red meat and processed meat can increase a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new review finds. Regularly eating 50 grams of processed meat a day — the equivalent of two slices of ham — increased by 15% a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the next 10 years, results showed.
• Just a daily cigarette or two before or during pregnancy endangers the health of newborns, a new study warns.Infants are 16% more likely to suffer major health issues following delivery if their mothers engaged in “light smoking” of one or two cigarettes a day prior to getting pregnant, researchers found.
• There’s a strong association between a state’s policies and laws around the rights of transgender people and the mental health of transgender residents, a new study shows.
• The Apollo Prostate Institute has rolled out a unique treatment module to treat prostate cases under a single roof. Irrespective of whether the case is simple or complex or benign or malignant, the Institute has assembled all the modalities approved globally in one place, to treat the patient in the best possible manner. Most notable of them is the steam therapy for treating enlarged prostates, seen as a breakthrough process globally.
• A meditation technique called mindful breathing can help cancer patients manage their pain and anxiety, a new study finds. Cancer patients who engaged in 20 minutes of mindful breathing experienced a greater reduction in pain than those who weren’t taught the technique.
• A group of US researchers have conducted a PubMed search to identify promising approaches for early diagnosis of endometriosis.Endometriosis is a common chronic disease that affects more than 11 per cent of women of reproductive age in the United States and 190 million women worldwide.

• Pristyn Care, a leader in secondary surgeries in India, has introduced the Innovation Lab, an incubator designed to drive advancements in AI within the healthcare sector. It will provide early-stage AI startups with a unique platform to pilot and refine their solutions in real-world healthcare environments.
• Shogun Organics, a part of Safex Chemicals Group, has announced the successful development of Renofluthrin, India’s first indigenously developed and patented mosquito repellent molecule. This breakthrough comes after a decade of intensive research and development, representing a noticeable advancement in the country’s capabilities in molecular research.
• Bora Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (Bora), a global leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing, announced that it has completed the acquisition from Emergent BioSolutions’ (Emergent) sterile manufacturing facility in Baltimore-Camden, Maryland. The facility adds drug product fill/finish to Bora’s extensive biologics drug substance capabilities.
• A Barcelona-based lecturer has launched the first menopause app for Spanish-speaking women.Talia Leibovitz, a course instructor at the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, has created Kala after spotting a gap in the digital health market.
• The reproductive health app Clue has announced a partnership with Headspace to help women “take control” of their mental health. The Clue and Headspace partnership aims to offer targeted support for users at various cycle stages and shed light on the important but under-researched connection between menstrual and mental health.
• The UK-based charity Wellbeing of Women has launched free virtual reality workshops to tackle menopause inequality in small and medium-sized businesses.

• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has introduced the revamped Non-Preferential Certificate of Origin (eCoO) 2.0 system. This upgrade aims to streamline the certification process for exporters by offering advanced features that enhance user-friendliness, efficiency, and digital integration. 
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has announced a Request for Expressions of Interest (EoI) aimed at inviting researchers, academicians, and scientists to participate in the formulation of evidence-based guidelines for the empirical use of antibiotics in the management of sepsis, dental infections, and vaginal discharge.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• PE Class: It Can Boost a Child’s Body and Mind: A quality physical education program involves more than just getting kids to move for a set amount of time during the school day, experts say.
• Marriage Gives Health Boost to Older Men, But Not Women. A wedding band may be good medicine for men as they age, but not so much for women, new research shows.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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