Making the business case for women’s health research

For Carolee Lee, investing in women’s health research is both a moral imperative and a very good business decision.

Carolee Lee, CEO of Women's Health Access Matters (WHAM), is pushing for more investments in women's health research.

Lee is the chief executive officer of Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM), an organization aiming to spur more funding and focus on women’s health research. WHAM just released a report making the case for greater investments in women’s health. Lee presented the report at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month.

“It's always a matter of doing the right thing, in my opinion,” Lee tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. “But sometimes business decisions are not made just on doing the right thing, and I think you have to have the sound metrics that show why an investment or an opportunity is a good one.”

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive®, Lee discusses how women’s health research has been short-changed and points to the enormous opportunities for investment. She highlights the need to tackle pressing health problems in women, the need for greater funding from the public and private sectors, and how women’s health research will benefit everybody.

“Societies are healthier if women are healthier,” she continues. “Women are 51% of the population. If we're not healthy, our families are not healthy. We make 80% of the healthcare decisions. Of course, it's about equality and equity, but I think our goal here was to show the business case.”

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An untapped market

Women’s health represents a largely untapped market, and Lee points out that it’s not a small one.

“Women are not a niche market,” she says. “The size of the market is quite large.”

WHAM’s report projects a $30 billion market for women’s health by 2030. Even with recent growth of investments in women’s health, only 2% of all venture capital funding in healthcare is directed to women’s health.

“How is it possible that 2% of dollars are allocated to investment and companies focused on the health of women? How's that possible? 51% of the population? It doesn't make sense, from a business perspective,” Lee says.

WHAM has collaborated with KPMG to accelerate investments in women’s health research. She released the findings of the report at the JP Morgan conference in a session with KPMG, and also had other presentations through the conference.

Lee says she’s encouraged by the response to the report and the growing interest in women’s health.

“It's just so interesting to me, because this data is so little known,” Lee says.

“This is a communications problem,” she continues. “You need to be able to share and be able to involve and entice groups of people who would be interested in this data. And they don't know it.”

Some of the education involves explaining fundamentals, such as the fact that women are affected disproportionately by certain diseases. Roughly 9 of 10 individuals with lupus are women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the Office of Women’s Health. About two-thirds of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are women, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

As much as anything, Lee says part of the communication effort involves getting investors and policymakers to understand that women aren’t just smaller men, with a few different parts.

“If we don't bust these myths that exist, we won't create change,” Lee says. “Again, this is the communication part of it … women are not small men. We’re different down to the cellular level. If we understand that, therein lies an opportunity.”

WHAM is pushing for more attention on conditions exclusively affecting women, such as menopause and ovarian cancer; those diseases disproportionately affecting women, such as autoimmune diseases; and how women are affected differently by some conditions, including heart disease.

She points to the menopause market as one that’s poised for significant growth. The menopause market is valued at $16 billion, and projected to reach $27 billion by 2031.

“Menopause used to be a dirty word,” Lee says. “You didn't talk about it. It didn't matter that half the population is female and is going to go through menopause.”

Lee points out that small companies or founders looking to enter the healthcare market would be smart to focus on women’s health. With many companies focusing on other areas, there’s less competition.

“This is an untapped, unexplored, uncharted area of opportunity,” Lee says.

Public and private investments

WHAM’s efforts are built around the “3not30” initiative, which is aimed at increasing federal and private investments in women’s health, engaging more women in clinical trials, and using data to track programs in women’s health research. It’s been a little over 30 years since federal policy explicitly called for research studies to include women, but WHAM is seeking to spur change more quickly.

Lee points to the increased federal investments in women’s health research. President Biden invested an additional $1 billion in women’s health research. Former First Lady Jill Biden announced $110 million in grants at the HLTH Conference in October.

The Biden administration’s funding “has made a difference and has created greater awareness,” Lee says.

With President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Lee says she is hopeful that momentum will continue. She says WHAM has helped build an appreciation for investing in women’s health.

“Now think about where we are now, which is focused on business and enterprise, and this administration, I believe, is very supportive of that,” Lee says.

Some healthcare leaders say they are worried about federal research funding dropping under the Trump administration, since the president is focused on reducing spending. Lee says it’s a concern, but it’s too early to estimate research funding. While she says she’s not highly optimistic about increased spending on research at the federal level, she is encouraged by the increased momentum and interest in women’s health.

Plus, Lee points to the potential growth in funding from the private sector and philanthropy.

“There are a number of foundations that are being set up, understanding and recognizing that research is so pivotal, that will take on some of this effort,” Lee says.

“And again, even during the next four years, if we can focus on now creating businesses, spurring enterprise to a higher level, that's going to need more research, and therefore the demand might make it more palpable.”

A shift in spending

Lee points to the prospect of another shift in spending more broadly that could have implications for women’s health. Women will be controlling more money in the coming years.

By 2030, women will control $34 trillion in the U.S., up from just over $7 trillion in 2020, according to a Bloomberg analysis of data from McKinsey & Company.

Lee calls that shift one of “the real wild cards” that could change spending on healthcare.

“Women already spend more money on their health,” Lee says. “What impact will that have? And might they start companies? Might they invest in companies? This might all just completely shift because of that wealth transfer.”

“It's one of the questions that I'm now really focused on,” she adds. “Because I wonder, if we keep asking questions like we should, of how things have been typically run or done, and maybe we need to think differently about it. Maybe there will be just a whole shift in how women spend money on their health and well-being and that of their family.”

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