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Could this start-up turn the tide on ovarian cancer?
Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system
Nearly 225,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer globally every year, but over 50 per cent of them will not survive. Could this biotech start-up have the solution?
March marks Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month – a chance to put ovarian cancer in the spotlight.
The disease causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system and, according to the American Cancer Society, will kill in 2024 12,740 women in the US alone.
Despite this, awareness remains low. New data from Target Ovarian Cancer shows that, while progress has been made, things are not moving fast enough, with 40 per cent of UK women confusing cervical cancer and ovarian cancer.
“We don’t have enough awareness and advocacy around ovarian cancer to elevate the importance of the disease the way we do around breast cancer,” says Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, co-founder and CEO of the biotech start-up AOA Dx.
She believes this is directly linked to the low incidence of the disease – there are about 240,000 new cases of breast cancer in the US every year, compared to just under 20,000 of cases of ovarian cancer.
However, she says: “While we don’t see hundreds of thousands of cases, the percentage of women who die of ovarian cancer is significantly higher than almost any other gynaecological cancer.”
Ovarian cancer’s high fatality rate is largely attributed to a failure to recognise symptoms early on and a series of misconceptions around the disease, such as the idea that ovarian cancer is a “silent killer”.
Papin-Zoghbi agrees. Most of the things we hear about ovarian cancer, she says, are not actually true.
“Around 87 per cent of women with ovarian cancer experience symptoms early on, but they are misconstrued for different things.
“The vague abdominal symptoms that we hear about are commonly mistaken for conditions like endometriosis or irritable bowel syndrome because there is no diagnostic to differentiate them.”
Currently, the only way to confirm an ovarian cancer diagnosis is a tissue biopsy. Most women have a biopsy during an operation called laparotomy, where the surgeons make a large cut down the middle of the abdomen to take samples of tissue.
However, in some cases, doctors have to remove an ovary and have it tested for signs of cancer to confirm a diagnosis.
Papin-Zoghbi and her team at Boston-based AOA Dx are aiming to develop the first early-stage ovarian cancer liquid biopsy diagnostic test, which could significantly cut down fatalities and make the diagnosis process less invasive.
“The fact that 80 per cent of women are diagnosed with stage three and four ovarian cancer is unacceptable. Women need a much better chance,” she says.
“We are hoping that our solution will help elevate our understanding of ovarian cancer.”
The technology has shown over 90 per cent accuracy for detection of ovarian cancer and raises hopes for thousands of women globally. However, it will take time.
“There are certain that are not in our control,” says Papin-Zoghbi.
“It takes up every waking moment to build a company, but we have a strong team and we are very positive about the the path forward.
“We closed a US$17m financing round in October and we are currently focusing on building our lab, developing our product pipeline and conducting our clinical study to validate our technology. In the next couple of years, our aim is to focus on product development and clinical study data ahead of thinking about how we will bring the product to market.
“We’re optimistic – we know we can have a transformational impact on women’s health.”
By Women’s Health Week
With four weeks to go until Women’s Health Week USA, the excitement is ramping up!
The final early bird pricing closes this Friday, the full speaker lineup is confirmed, and a record number of pitch applications signals the depth of innovation now moving through the sector as we enter the Era of Scale.
Women’s Health Week USA takes place May 13-14 at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City, bringing together 600+ senior decision makers spanning investors, founders, multinationals, payers, providers and policymakers around one shared agenda: taking women’s health from growth to scale.
Early bird tickets are available until midnight on Friday, April 17.
Book by then to save up to $600 on your place
The Full Speaker Lineup is Confirmed
The full speaker lineup has finally been confirmed, with 80+ voices spanning investment, innovation, policy, medtech and pharma.
The programme reflects the event’s 2026 theme, The Era of Scale, moving beyond early validation into the harder work of institutionalising women’s health as a category.
Confirmed speakers include Kate Ryder (Maven Clinic), Mallika Mundkur (FDA), Melanie Newman (Planned Parenthood), Nichole Young-Lin (Google), Jill Angelo (OURA), David Stern (Kindbody) and Tammy Sun (Carrot Fertility), alongside representation from the NYSE, ARPA-H, the World Health Organization, Samsung Next, Novo Holdings and more.
170 Pitch Applications and Counting
The Women’s Health Week USA Innovation Showcase received a record 170 applications ahead of its April 10 close, the highest number in the event’s history.
The volume reflects the growing depth of innovation in the sector, but it was the quality of submissions that stood out, with companies across Medical Devices & Therapeutics and Consumer & Tech bringing genuinely differentiated solutions to conditions that have been underserved for decades.
The selected companies will get the chance to pitch on the mainstage at the New York Academy of Medicine in front of the full audience of 600+ investors, corporates, innovators and strategic partners.
Results will be announced next week.
Register your interest to find out who makes the WHW USA Innovator Class of 2026
NYSE Partnership: A Quick Recap
For those who missed our announcement on Femtech World last week, the New York Stock Exchange is the Official Exchange Partner of Women’s Health Week USA 2026.
On the morning of May 13, WHW will feature in the NYSE Market Update, reaching approximately 200 million viewers.
Women’s Health Week will also light up the North Star Billboard in Times Square for a full week around the event, with live and taped interviews distributed across NYSE Live and Taking Stock.
It remains one of the most significant institutional endorsements the women’s health sector has seen.
Early Bird Pricing Closes This Friday
Tickets increase by up to $600 after midnight on Friday, April 17. For anyone with May 13-14 in their calendar, this week is the window to move.
Flora Fertility has raised US$5m in seed funding to roll out fertility insurance across the US, with plans to expand into Canada.
The round was led by ManchesterStory, with participation from Slauson & Co., TruStage Ventures, BDC Capital, Marathon Fund, Adara Venture Capital and strategic angel investors. Existing investors include Highline Beta, Everywhere Ventures and Cartography Capital.
Laura McDonald, co-founder of Flora Fertility, said: “Fertility is one of the largest uninsured financial risks people face, yet the system today only offers support once you’re already in crisis and often only if your employer provides it.
“We’re creating a new category where fertility becomes something you can proactively plan for, not just pay for when it’s too late.”
Flora says it is introducing a new InsurTech category with individually owned, portable fertility insurance designed to address a gap in healthcare cover.
The company says it wants to shift fertility from a reactive expense to a proactive, data-driven financial planning tool, using AI, personalised underwriting and risk modelling.
The platform lets people buy coverage without relying on an employer, helping it continue through job changes and different stages of life.
Flora’s policies cover a full range of fertility treatments, including diagnostics, medications, intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilisation, with entry-level pricing starting at about US$20 a month.
The company estimates that infertility affects one in six people globally, while treatment costs can range from US$30,000 to US$50,000, leaving the vast majority of patients without access to care.
Flora says its platform currently reaches more than 10 million prospective policyholders across North America.
The funding will be used to expand Flora’s underwriting capabilities, scale distribution and further develop its platform as it seeks to establish a new market within women’s health and insurance.
Nicole Gunderson, partner at ManchesterStory, said: “Flora is building something that has never existed before, affordable, portable fertility insurance that meets the next generation of women exactly where they are.
“The InsurTech opportunity here is enormous, and the Flora team has the expertise, technology, and vision to define this category.”
Dr Christy Lane, co-founder of Flora Fertility, added: “Fertility has always been treated as unpredictable and uninsurable, but the data tells a different story.
“The earlier someone can access that coverage, the better their outcomes and the lower their costs, which is what makes this model so powerful.
“We’re turning fertility from a reactive medical expense into a proactive, data-driven financial decision.”
By Women’s Health Week
When the New York Stock Exchange signs on as the Official Exchange Partner of a women’s health event, it’s worth paying attention to.
Women’s Health Week USA, taking place May 13-14 at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City, has confirmed the NYSE as its Official Exchange Partner for 2026.
It is one of the most significant institutional endorsements the women’s health sector has seen, and it says something meaningful about where global capital markets are directing their attention.
Find out more about WHW USA 2026 here.
What the Partnership Involves
This is not simply a logo on a lanyard.
The NYSE partnership comes with a set of activations that put women’s health in front of audiences well beyond the event itself.
On the morning of May 13, Women’s Health Week will be featured in the NYSE Market Update, reaching an audience of approximately 200 million viewers across outlets including Yahoo Finance and the Financial Times.
For a sector that has historically struggled for mainstream financial visibility, that kind of reach is significant.
Women’s Health Week will also light up the North Star Billboard in Times Square for a full week around the event, placing the brand at the centre of one of the most commercially visible locations in the world.
NYSE will produce live and taped interviews with WHW leadership and keynote speakers, distributed across NYSE Live, Taking Stock, and partner platforms reaching tens of millions of viewers monthly.
A dedicated NYSE content team will be on the ground at the New York Academy of Medicine capturing the conversations and connections taking place across both days.
The NYSE’s Healthcare & Life Sciences team will also take to the stage at Women’s Health Week USA, sharing their perspective on trends shaping the sector from a capital markets standpoint.
Why It Matters
The partnership is a signal as much as it is a sponsorship.
Women’s health has spent years making the case that it is a commercially serious category.
The NYSE’s involvement makes that case in a language the broader financial world understands.
Women’s Health Week USA 2026 is themed around The Era of Scale, a deliberate framing around the idea that the sector has moved beyond early validation into the harder work of institutionalisation.
Capital is moving. M&A activity is increasing. Generalist investors are entering a space that was once left to specialists. The NYSE partnership fits neatly into that narrative.
With 600+ senior decision makers confirmed across investors, founders, multinationals, payers and policymakers, the event is already one of the most commercially concentrated gatherings in the women’s health calendar.
The NYSE’s reach extends that concentration well beyond the walls of the New York Academy of Medicine.
Find out for yourself why this partnership is so perfect and join Women’s Health Week USA. Secure your ticket here.
The Pitch Sessions
For founders and early-stage companies, Women’s Health Week USA also hosts a mainstage Pitch Session across two categories: Medical Devices & Therapeutics and Consumer & Tech. Fifteen companies will be selected to pitch in front of the full audience.
Applications close April 10.
They are free to submit, and any company working on a condition that affects women exclusively, differently, or disproportionately is eligible.
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