With October marking Menopause Awareness Month, Chloe Skidmore, IP law specialist at Reddie & Grose spotlights a wave of game-changing innovations that are ‘redefining’ women’s health.
October marks Menopause Awareness Month, with the aim to raise global awareness about menopause and the health challenges women face during this mid-life transition. At Reddie & Grose we have taken this spotlight on menopause as an opportunity to celebrate the rising interest in women’s health research and menopause awareness, a topic that has long been overlooked in the media and in science.
Preclinical research is dominated by male models, and in clinical trials women are often underrepresented or excluded from subgroup analyses resulting in a lack of sex-specific data. Prior to these trials women also have difficulty even getting a diagnosis for conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, and receiving personalised advice when facing menopause.
It has also been a misrepresented topic, with media portrayal highlighting the negative effects of menopause, reinforcing a social stigma, and glossing over the serious health struggles faced by women. Healthcare providers often lack substantial training or time to discuss menopause thoroughly with their patients. Instead, women in a digital age are faced with a plethora of unverified advice and products which can mislead those seeking support resulting in a lack of knowledge and anxiety about entering this life stage.
The theme for this year’s Menopause Awareness Month is Lifestyle Medicine, focusing on how non-pharmacological methods can be used to manage menopause symptoms and decrease the risk of long-term health problems. This aligns itself with the increase in the popularity of FemTech and innovative technology for wellness, including various wearable devices and AI hormone testing kits, marketed to address women’s health.
As patent attorneys, we see first-hand how the FemTech sector is experiencing significant advancement and is an economic opportunity with power to drive investment and innovation, serving 51% of the global population. In honour of Menopause Awareness Month, we explore some of the most important symptoms caused by menopause that startups are aiming to address and overcome with exciting product developments from emerging medical devices, digital platforms, and pharmaceuticals, all contributing to the rapid growth of the sector. Many of these innovations are protected by patents or patent-pending technologies, underscoring the crucial role intellectual property plays in supporting growth, securing competitive advantage, and attracting investment in this rapidly expanding sector.
Hot flashes during the night cause sleep disruption and are an extremely common symptom of menopause that The Terra System from Amira Health is designed to combat. Amira reports that the system reduces hot flashes by 70%. The system includes a patent-pending wearable device in the form of a bracelet with multi-point sensors which track slight changes in temperature, moisture, and movement to detect nervous system arousal and the early-onset of a hot flash. When a hot flash is detected a smart mattress pad is activated to allow cool water to flow to the mattress pad, and AI adaptively optimises cooling to reduce the severity and duration of a hot flash. Having raised over $4.7 million in funding, Amira is an inspiring example of a startup with a female founder and CEO, successfully making an impact in the sector.
Low bone density in post-menopausal women is one of the unspoken symptoms caused by a decline in the hormone oestrogen resulting in a high loss of bone mass, fractures, and the development of osteoporosis. Osteoboost is a wearable therapy, the first and only FDA-cleared non-drug treatment specifically designed to slow bone loss in postmenopausal women with osteopenia. The Class II medical device is inspired by NASA research into vibration therapy as a safe, mechanical way to stimulate bones as a result of the alarming rate of bone loss in astronauts. Osteoboost is designed to be worn for 30 minutes per day whilst standing or walking and is clinically proven to reduce the loss of bone strength in the spine by over 80%. The device is an exciting example of how new scientific data is being used to benefit women’s health and is protected by multiple patents and pending patents in the US and Japan.
The UK startup Astinno is also aiming to prevent hot flashes by creating a 24/7 wearable cooling device for women. The bracelet, ‘Grace,’ uses biofeedback technology to track temperature throughout the day and night to predict an impending hot flash and counteracts symptoms including sweating, increased heart rate, shortness of breath and a reddening of the skin by using a local cooling mechanism at the wrist. The ‘Grace’ wristband is currently in development and not yet available to customers.
Many of these emerging medical devices and platforms designed for women going through menopause have technology that can also be applied to other health conditions causing similar symptoms. The market demand for wellness products is increasing as the industry continues to generate the data on women’s health that fills the gaps, meaning healthcare choices should diversify, and women should gain better access to personalised and high-quality care through technology.
Companies within the FemTech sector are using patents to protect their innovations and registered IP will only become more critical for companies as the sector becomes more competitive. 85% of FemTech companies have a female founder, yet only 4% of investment globally goes to women-founded start-ups, and so emerging FemTech companies backed by females will benefit from being able to stake a claim and become more attractive to investors in the attempt to secure funding.
At Reddie & Grose, we highlight the strategic value of securing intellectual property early in the innovation process. Protecting these breakthrough technologies not only helps founders safeguard their ideas but also strengthens their position with investors, supports market growth, and encourages continued innovation in women’s health. As the FemTech sector expands, robust IP strategies will be essential for translating these promising innovations into real-world impact for women around the globe.
