ASV Insights presents the Top 10 Deals of 2023 where we look at how recent major successes reflect the latest trends in women’s health and sexual health. For our final deal of our Top 10 Deals of 2023 series, we look at a notable women's health acquisition in generic medicines. This deal proves pharmaceutical players’ appetite for women’s health products and bodes well for future innovation in the field.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, established in 1984 and committed to developing and commercializing affordable and innovative medicines, announced that it will acquire the U.S generic prescription product portfolio of Australian based Mayne Pharma Group Limited. The acquired portfolio is specifically tailored to women’s health. Notable products include a hormonal vaginal ring, birth control pills, cardiovascular medications, prescription prenatals, oral estrogen and estradiol creams. Dr. Reddy’s will acquire the portfolio for an initial cash payment of roughly $90 million (USD), with potential additional payments of up to $15 million (USD).
Therapeutics is one of the most lucrative areas of healthcare and the development of therapeutics specific to women's health conditions are on the rise. Venture capital investment in Pharma R&D increased from $38 billion in 2000 to $83 billion by 2019. This uptick in investment has yielded new modalities of medicines enabling researchers to develop treatments for previously underserved conditions like those specific to women’s health.
Because women’s health has been historically under researched, many therapeutics targeting women’s health conditions are, by default, first of their kind. The advantages of first-in-class drugs are numerous. They become the standard of care, dominate market share, and tend to maintain that position even after new entrants arrive. There is immense value to be gained from arriving first to a market, however, there is also a need for generics. Currently 90% of all prescriptions dispensed in the United States are for generic drugs. Democratizing and diversifying access to medicine is critical, especially in an area like women’s health. The market size for products like the vaginal ring, birth control, prescription prenatals, estrogens and cardiovascular medicine only proves this further.
In 2022, in North America alone, the market size for contraception was $8.3B. Around 50M women in the US between the ages of 15 and 49 use birth control. However, nearly 1 in 5 women (18%) are not using their preferred method of contraception and a quarter (25%) say it is because they can’t afford it. Access to contraception is imperative to a woman's reproductive autonomy, which is especially important in today’s post-roe society. By creating generic, more affordable versions of birth control, women can reclaim control of their health and family planning.
Beyond contraception, prescription prenatals and estrogens see significant demand as they are used by women who are pregnant, women who are pursuing IVF and women in menopause. In 2021, the HRT market size was valued at $21.7B.
The market for cardiovascular medication is gargantuan, valued at $138B in 2022. This comes at no surprise - heart disease is the leading cause of death across the globe. What is lesser known is that cardiovascular disease differentially impacts women. For example, women cardiac patients are less likely to be prescribed medications like low-dose Aspirin to reduce the risk of further events. This is because, historically, men have been the target patient for drug development and research surrounding heart health. Innovation in cardiovascular therapeutics, tailored for women, is critical to closing the gender health gap.
The acquisition of Mayne Pharma’s Women's Health generic medicine portfolio represents a growing interest in women's health specific therapeutics. With growing conversations around other, historically underserved, women’s health conditions, we’re seeing a shift in therapeutic innovation in the early Seed and Series A stages. In recent years, multiple startups focused on developing therapeutics for conditions that fall within the category of women’s health have succeeded in securing VC funding.
Fertility
Granata Bio - Series A - develops and commercializes IVF medications in North America.
Oviva Therapeutics - Series A - developing first-in-class therapeutics to improve ovarian function and consequently extend a woman’s fertility window.
Cancer Therapeutics
Papyrus Therapeutics - Seed - developing a new cancer treatment for ovarian cancer using protein replacement tumor suppressors.
Guardian Bio - Seed - Guardian Bio is creating personalized cell therapies based on dendritic cells that drive anti-tumor activity through eliciting a diverse yet targeted immune response.
Endometriosis
Gensynta Pharma - Series A - Gesynta Pharma is developing novel anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Endometriosis.
Vaginal Health
Freya Biosciences - Series A - a clinical-stage company creating microbial immunotherapies aimed at relieving the chronic inflammation underlying a range of reproductive system diseases uniquely afflicting women.
