Endometriosis affects one in 10 women, but diagnosis of this fertility impairing, and often painful condition often takes a decade. A growing number of companies hope to put women with the condition on the path to treatment much sooner with new diagnostics and investors, investigators and regulators see bright opportunities in the field.

Women now have a new treatment option for dealing with the pain associated with endometriosis with U.S. FDA approval of Myfembree (relugolix/estradiol/norethindrone acetate) for managing moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis in premenopausal women.

Women now have a new treatment option for dealing with the pain associated with endometriosis with U.S. FDA approval of Myfembree (relugolix/estradiol/norethindrone acetate) for managing moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis in premenopausal women.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have found a genetic link between endometriosis and ovarian cancer subtypes, enabling them to identify potential drug targets for therapy and increasing the understanding of both diseases.

PARIS – Ziwig SAS has developed the Endotest saliva test, for quickly detecting endometriosis. François Golfier, head of the gynecology-obstetrics department at Angers University Hospital and chairman of the endometriosis committee for the National College of French Gynecologists and Obstetricians, claims this new generation of in vitro diagnostic medical devices is going to be a game-changer “as it finally allows this chronic debilitating disease to be detected sooner and within the space of just a few days.”

Just months after completion of its spinout from Merck & Co. Inc., Organon & Co. has revealed plans to fold in a second acquisition: the Finnish firm Forendo Pharma Ltd., which is advancing an early stage candidate for endometriosis. The deal includes $75 million up front and as much as $870 million in potential milestone payments for Forendo owner Karolinska Development AB, which said the buyout is one of the largest biotech transactions in the Nordic region. Earlier deals rounding out the company's recent story include a Merck-facilitated acquisition of Alydia Health Inc. and a July deal with Obseva SA.

Women with endometriosis may be closer to finding relief from chronic inflammation and acute pain during menstruation after a group of international researchers have uncovered a new nonhormonal treatment target, neuropeptide S receptor 1.

With the PDUFA date for relugolix against prostate cancer growing nearer and data in castration resistance-free patients closer still, Myovant Sciences GmbH aims to wring more from the oral, once-daily gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist, studying it in uterine fibroids and endometriosis.