Four developments caught my attention this week: funding for endocrine drug development, the expansion of insurance-covered women’s healthcare, philanthropic support for stillbirth prevention, and the acquisition of an established women’s-health brand.
Each offers a different perspective on how capital can help bring healthcare solutions to women and the work involved along the way.
OMass Therapeutics raises $310 million for endocrine and immunology medicines
OMass Therapeutics announced a $310 million Series C on 15 October, co-led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, Forbion and Novo Holdings.
The financing will support its lead drug candidate, OMS1620, through Phase 2 development in congenital adrenal hyperplasia and ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. It will also support initial clinical data for a separate programme targeting lupus and other immune-related diseases. Read More
What I find Interesting
This caught my attention because some of the science relevant to women’s health sits within broader areas such as endocrinology and immunology.
Cushing’s syndrome, for example, disproportionately affects women, although that varies depending on its underlying cause.
It is a reminder of why I find women’s health such an interesting area to explore. There are opportunities within conditions specific to women, but also within diseases that affect women more frequently or differently.
Those opportunities may not always appear in a women’s-health funding roundup. Sometimes we need to look more closely at the underlying science and the patients it could benefit.
OMass still has clinical work ahead. This financing gives the company resources to move that work forward, and hopefully bring us closer to understanding what these programmes could offer patients.
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Allara raises $30 million to expand insurance-covered women’s healthcare
Allara has raised $30 million, bringing its total funding to $75 million. Participants included Index Ventures and GV, alongside Camino Partners, Foreground and Family Fund.
The company provides virtual hormonal, metabolic and reproductive healthcare. The funding will support its clinical infrastructure, enterprise partnerships and additional AI capabilities. Allara works with major commercial insurers and is increasing awareness among employers whose insurance arrangements already include its services. Read More
What I find Interesting
What interests me is the attempt to make connected care more accessible through insurance.
For a woman experiencing several symptoms, knowing where to begin can be difficult. Do you see a gynaecologist, an endocrinologist or someone else? And who helps connect the findings from those different appointments? There is value in making that experience easier.
3. Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap commit $100 million to stillbirth prevention
The Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap announced a combined $100 million commitment to Uzima, a programme aiming to demonstrate that stillbirth rates can be halved over a decade in selected countries.
The initial three-year funding will help identify and validate technologies including AI-enabled ultrasound, diagnostic biomarkers, labour-monitoring sensors and decision-support tools. The programme expects to select an initial package of innovations by early 2027. Read More
What I find Interesting
What interests me here is the role philanthropic capital can play alongside investment capital.
There can be promising technologies that could make a real difference to patients, but are still too early or too uncertain for commercial investors. Funding the research, testing those technologies and understanding how they work in a healthcare setting can help them move forward.
We need this kind of catalytic capital in women’s health. There is so much we still need to understand, and investment capital cannot fund every part of that journey.
For me, this is why blended approaches to funding matter. Philanthropy, public funding and commercial investment each have a role to play. The challenge is helping those sources of capital connect, so that a promising innovation can continue moving towards patients.
The hope is that programmes like Uzima can help build the evidence and experience needed for other funders to support wider use. That possibility is what makes this announcement particularly interesting.
4. Aristo acquires the DonnaPlus women’s-health brand
Aristo Pharma Iberia has acquired DonnaPlus from Laboratorios Ordesa, according to Alimarket’s 14 October report. Financial terms were not disclosed.
DonnaPlus covers areas including menstrual pain, menopause and intimate health. Aristo highlighted the brand’s experienced team and established relationships with healthcare professionals and pharmacies. Ordesa described the sale as part of its strategy to focus on infant and adult nutrition. Read More
What I find Interesting
I was interested in how much attention Aristo gave to the team and relationships that come with the brand.
We spend a lot of time discussing products in women’s health. Understandably so. But helping those products reach people also requires knowledge of the market, trusted relationships and reliable distribution.
Those things take time to build. They can be valuable to a buyer that already has complementary products and the resources to support further growth.
We do not know the price paid, so there is little we can say about valuation or investment returns. Still, it is useful to see an established pharmaceutical company explaining why it wants to expand in women’s health and recognising the experience and relationships behind an existing business.
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About Maryann Selfe
Maryann Selfe is an institutional investor and the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Calabar Capital, an investment platform backing exceptional managers and founders in women’s health. She is the author of The Billion Dollar Blindspot and writes about women’s-health investing and capital allocation.
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