Despite government efforts to prop up biopharma and med-tech research toward creating women’s health products, companies must eventually reach out to the private markets to bring their inventions to the next stage of development. Anna Zornosa-Heymann, a women’s health investor, serves as a part-time contractor with the U.S. NIH’s SEED (Small business Education & Entrepreneurial Development) office, where she helps companies move from government to external funding. Government funds are “excellent to pay for research … but those funds don’t allow you to build a first-class team and to develop a sales apparatus,” she told BioWorld.

While women’s health has slid under the research radar for decades, large biopharma companies and venture capital firms are beginning to take notice of the untapped market potential. More companies are wandering into the space and exploring avenues of science that were largely ignored for years. A BioWorld analysis of biopharma companies working on women’s health solutions found that while many efforts to improve the well-being of women exist, the proportion of funding and partnering for this emerging sector of medicine still represents only a small slice of the industry’s overall activity.

Biontech SE is extending its relationship with Biotheus Inc. from a licensing deal to a full-scale acquisition, agreeing to pay $800 million cash and up to $150 million in milestone payments for the Chinese oncology specialist.