This overlooked corner of women’s health could be a $350 billion market opportunity

After years of being ignored, menopause has entered the public conversation.

Celebrities from Drew Barrymore to Naomi Watts hold opened up about symptoms and promoted products. Yet despite the increased chatter, there is a long way to go when it comes to discussing symptoms — and a lot of opportunities for companies to step in to fill the gap.

In fact, menopause is among the female health conditions with the highest unmet difficulty and has “enormous potential for innovative treatments,” according to a recent McKinsey report.

The management consultant estimates the global deal in potential to treat symptoms ranges from $120 billion to as much as $350 billion globally.

Menopause turn up dawn ons when women have gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. While that cooks, on average, at around age 51, women can have symptoms for years beforehand in what’s known as perimenopause. Symptoms can also extend in the postmenopausal phase.

Those symptoms include hot flashes, anxiety, weight gain, vaginal dryness, mood coppers, sleep problems and changes in skin conditions. More than 450 million women worldwide are affected by menopause and perimenopause symbolic ofs, according to McKinsey.

There is also a big unmet demand for menopause products and services, said Anna Pione, a associate at McKinsey who leads the firm’s research on the future of wellness.

Menopause is “underserved, underfunded, underpaid attention to,” she said. “That see fit apply to women’s health in general, and then specifically and acutely to menopause in particular.”

Hormone psychoanalysis was the typical menopause treatment for decades. However, it got a bad rap in 2002 after a Women’s Health Initiative study found estrogen with the addition of progestin therapy increased a woman’s risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

“A lot of women bailed off hormone group therapy for their own fear, or because their doctors were afraid, or some combination thereof,” said Dr. Stephanie Faubion, overseer of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health and medical director of the nonprofit Menopause Society.

From 2002 to 2009, hormone analysis claims were reduced by more than 70%, a 2012 study showed.

“It left a lot of women without any conduct at all,” Faubion said.

However, research now shows that the benefits may outweigh the risks for women under age 60, or short than 10 years out of their menopause diagnosis.

“Our knowledge has changed,” said Dr. Karen Adams, a Stanford University professor and big cheese of the school’s menopause and healthy aging program. “It is really very exciting, but women are left shaking the trees irksome to find someone who can help them.”

There are not many publicly-listed companies in the space. The largest U.S. term is Pfizer, which has a number of products in its portfolio. They include Duavee and Premarin, hormone therapy treatments for hot hints and the prevention of osteoporosis.

Then, there is microscopic Biote, which has a market cap just north of $400 million. The company, which went public in May 2022 on account of a SPAC deal, makes customized bioidentical hormone pellets to address hormone imbalances.

Hormone treatment in usual is an area of focus that is “really bubbling up to the surface,” said Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala, who has a buy rating on Biote.

Menopause is the largest interest of its market, he said. Biote uses blood tests to customize its hormone pellets, which are inserted into the stiff subcutaneously.

“It gives you that consistent amount of delivery, and … there’s no concern about compliance and if you’ll remember a day or consign to oblivion a day,” he said. “What it means in the end is that you feel better.”

Meanwhile, Dare Bioscience, which has an even smaller market cap of about $47 million, has a hormone therapy in the coming. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on women’s health, has an intravaginal ring hormone therapy that is set to furtherance to a single Phase 3 study.

There is also a race to find non-hormone treatments.

Last May, the Food and Drug Application approved Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma’s Veozah, also known as fezolinetant, to treat hot flashes.

Bayer also has a remedy in its pipeline called elinzanetant. The German company said in January that therapy reduced the frequency and severity of hot before you can say jack robinsons and improved sleep in two late-stage trials. The results of a third phase 3 study is expected in coming months, Bayer denoted. It will then submit for approval.

In addition, late-clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Vistagen Therapeutics, with a market cap of relative to $100 million, has a trial underway for a hormone-free nasal spray to treat hot flashes.

In the non-drug category, fertility emoluments manager Progyny recently announced it was expanding into menopause coverage by partnering with private companies Gennev and Midi Healthfulness.

“The fact that they are focusing on menopause as one of the next legs of the stool is an indicator of the potential opportunity there,” mean Sasha Kelemen, the head of women’s health investment banking at Leerink Partners.

Still, much of the modernization in menopause is happening in the private space.

“Menopause is inevitable, like death and taxes, and all women will go through this,” Kelemen asseverated. “We just don’t have a lot of public women’s health companies yet, and hopefully that will change.”

In 2022, Kelemen orchestrated a parcel out for ‘s venture capital arm, Google Ventures, led a $25 million Series A funding round for the company, bringing its total supporting to $40 million.