The landscape of women’s healthcare is undergoing a dramatic transformation, shifting from a narrow focus on reproductive health to encompass a much broader spectrum of conditions that uniquely, disproportionately, or differently affect women. The WHAM Report, a collaborative effort with the KPMG Foundation and KPMG, highlights this paradigm shift, revealing a vast, untapped market ripe with investment opportunities. This market extends far beyond traditional boundaries, encompassing conditions like autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular issues, where women represent a significant majority of patients or experience these illnesses differently than men. This expanded definition of women’s health presents a compelling business case for investors, promising substantial financial returns while simultaneously addressing critical unmet needs and improving health outcomes for women globally.
This burgeoning market offers significant untapped potential, driven by the sheer size of the affected population and the urgent need for innovative solutions. While conditions exclusive to women, such as menopause, ovarian cancer, and endometriosis, represent a multi-billion dollar market, the real opportunity lies in the broader range of conditions where women are disproportionately affected. Autoimmune diseases, affecting 80% of women, and Alzheimer’s, impacting 66% of women, exemplify the scale of this market. Furthermore, the different ways in which women experience diseases like heart attacks and lung cancer underscores the need for sex-differentiated healthcare, opening avenues for targeted research, diagnostics, and treatments. This unmet need translates into a significant economic burden, with women spending more on healthcare and experiencing substantial lost earnings due to health issues.
The WHAM Report underscores the financial viability of investing in women’s health, providing compelling evidence of its potential for high returns. It cites a significant increase in VC investment in women’s health between 2018 and 2023, coupled with successful exits and the emergence of several unicorn companies in the sector. While current investment levels remain relatively low compared to other healthcare areas, the report projects substantial growth in the coming years, estimating the women’s healthcare market to reach $66 billion by 2033. This projection, however, underscores the importance of a granular, bottom-up approach to market sizing, analyzing each specific condition to accurately assess its potential and avoid underestimating the true scope of the opportunity.
The report further emphasizes the broader economic benefits of investing in women’s health, extending beyond direct financial returns to encompass significant cost savings and contributions to global GDP. It projects that a modest investment in women-focused research could yield substantial financial returns and significant savings in healthcare costs, particularly for conditions like coronary artery disease. Moreover, closing the existing gap in women’s health outcomes could significantly boost global GDP, demonstrating the interconnectedness of women’s health with overall economic prosperity. These figures underscore the powerful argument for increased investment in women’s health, highlighting its potential not only to improve individual lives but also to drive broader economic growth.
Successfully capitalizing on this opportunity requires a collaborative ecosystem, bringing together investors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative solutions. The WHAM Report champions this collaborative approach, advocating for increased public-private funding, targeted research initiatives, and a concerted effort to address existing gaps in women’s healthcare. The report highlights the pivotal role of the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 in mandating the inclusion of women in clinical trials, paving the way for more effective and equitable healthcare research. Furthermore, recent White House initiatives, backed by substantial funding, are further fueling this national movement to advance women’s health through research, expanded services, and targeted care.
WHAM itself is actively fostering this collaborative ecosystem through initiatives like the 3Not30 campaign and the newly formed Investment Collaborative. These initiatives aim to accelerate research, innovation, and investment in women’s health, bringing together key stakeholders to drive meaningful progress. The Investment Collaborative, composed of leading venture capital firms and healthcare organizations, is focused on increasing investment in women-owned companies, strengthening investor relationships, and publishing impactful reports to track progress and highlight investment opportunities. These collaborative efforts are crucial to overcoming the historical underinvestment in women’s health and unlocking the full potential of this rapidly expanding market. By working together, investors, researchers, and healthcare providers can create a more equitable and effective healthcare system, improving the lives of women around the world while simultaneously generating substantial economic benefits.
