News
Could FemTech Help Close the Gender Gap in Clinical Research?
Medical research has shaped the treatments and healthcare practices used today. However, historically, it has failed to account for sex-based differences in disease presentation, treatment responses, and overall health outcomes. For decades, women have been underrepresented in clinical trials, which has resulted in gaps in medical knowledge that affect everything from drug efficacy to disease management.
Don’t believe it? Recent studies highlight the extent of the issue, as a 2023 report from the British Medical Journal revealed that only 41% of participants in UK-based clinical trials were female. Sadly, many trials still exclude women due to concerns over hormonal fluctuations, leaving medical professionals without accurate data on how treatments impact half the population. Without action, misdiagnoses, ineffective treatments, and higher rates of adverse drug reactions will continue to affect women’s health.
The rise of FemTech—technology designed to address women’s health needs—offers a potential solution. Thanks to leveraging digital tools, AI-driven data collection, and real-world evidence, FemTech is reshaping clinical research and paving the way for gender-inclusive healthcare advancements, and here’s how.
The Gender Gap in Clinical Research: Where Are We Now?
Women continue to be underrepresented in clinical research, with disparities persisting across multiple medical fields. Cardiovascular disease, for example, is the leading cause of death among women in the UK. Despite this, a 2023 report from the British Cardiovascular Society highlighted that women are significantly less likely to be included in trials for new treatments. Research into conditions that predominantly affect women, such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), also remains underfunded, leading to prolonged diagnostic delays and limited treatment options.
Recent regulatory efforts aim to improve representation. The European Medicines Agency has updated its guidelines to require more sex-specific data analysis in clinical trials. However, implementation remains inconsistent, with many research institutions yet to adopt clear policies ensuring equal representation. Without systemic changes, women will continue to receive medical treatments developed using incomplete or male-biased data, increasing the risk of misdiagnoses and inadequate care.
Leveraging Education and Awareness to Drive Change
Of course, public awareness plays a critical role in addressing research disparities. Many healthcare professionals lack training in gender-specific medicine, contributing to diagnostic delays and ineffective treatments. Universities can bridge this gap by integrating women’s health topics into university courses, ensuring future medical professionals are equipped to challenge outdated practices.
What about those looking to specialise in this field? Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities, making it possible to find a degree course at a UK university that focuses on gender-inclusive research and digital health advancements. Widespread education efforts, including public health campaigns and professional training, will drive long-term improvements in research inclusivity.
Addressing Bias in Medical Trials Through Technology
Sadly, bias remains a persistent issue in clinical trials. Women are often excluded from research due to concerns over hormonal variability, yet this exclusion leads to incomplete medical knowledge. A study published in the American Journal of Medicine found that women are underrepresented as participants, authors, lead authors, and leadership committees in cardiovascular randomised controlled trials (RCTs), limiting the ability to perform sex-disaggregated analysis and generalise findings to women.
AI and machine learning tools can help correct these disparities. Algorithm-driven trial design ensures balanced participation by identifying gaps in enrolment and recruiting diverse populations. Integrating FemTech data further strengthens this approach by capturing real-world insights into conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as endometriosis and autoimmune disorders.
The Role of Digital Health in Personalised Research
Personalised medicine is transforming healthcare, with digital health tools accelerating this paradigm shift. Standard treatments often fail to account for individual differences in genetics, hormones, and lifestyle factors. With AI-driven diagnostics and wearable technology becoming increasingly sophisticated, medical professionals can develop treatments tailored to an individual’s unique biology.
Recent advances demonstrate the potential impact of this approach. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism shows that AI and machine learning approaches can significantly improve the prediction of menopause timing compared to traditional methods. These insights enable more proactive management of symptoms and better long-term health outcomes—a significant advancement in women’s healthcare.
Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities for FemTech Solutions
Integrating FemTech into mainstream healthcare requires navigating complex regulatory frameworks. Historically, digital health solutions faced challenges due to stringent approval processes. However, the MHRA has introduced initiatives to address these issues.
In January 2024, the MHRA published its roadmap for delivering a future regulatory framework for medical devices. This roadmap aims to provide consistency, clarity, and continuous improvement, fostering a more supportive environment for medical technology innovations, including FemTech.
Additionally, the Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) pilot was launched to reduce uncertainty in the route to market for technology developers. This initiative stems from the Life Sciences Vision, aiming to enable and improve patient access to innovative and transformative medical devices by providing integrated regulatory and access support to developers. These efforts indicate a shift towards a more accommodating regulatory environment for FemTech solutions, enhancing their potential to be integrated into mainstream healthcare.
Policymakers are also focusing on creating a thriving life sciences sector. The UK’s Life Sciences Vision outlines plans to stimulate the sector, address significant healthcare challenges, and emphasise the integration of innovative technologies. Advocating for FemTech’s inclusion in clinical research guidelines and leveraging these supportive regulatory frameworks will ensure these innovations reach the patients who need them most.
How Data-Driven Innovation Could Improve Outcomes for Women
Leveraging big data is essential to closing the gender gap in healthcare. By aggregating information from FemTech applications, researchers can develop more precise treatment strategies tailored to female biology. This approach has the potential to reduce misdiagnosis rates and ensure medical advancements serve women more effectively.
Collaboration between FemTech companies, academic institutions, and healthcare providers is already driving change. For instance, AI-powered virtual assistants are being developed to provide personalised support and information related to menopausal symptoms. In 2024, Mira Care launched its AI-powered ‘Menopause Transitions Kit’ for at-home hormone monitoring, allowing users to track key reproductive hormones and personalise menopause management accordingly.
These advancements highlight how data-driven innovation is leading to more personalised, effective treatments for women. Increased investment in FemTech collaborations could further refine diagnostic tools and ensure that medical research reflects the full spectrum of female health experiences.
Embracing these technological advancements and fostering collaborations means the healthcare industry can make significant strides toward closing the gender gap in clinical research and treatment outcomes.
Encouraging Greater Female Participation in Clinical Studies
Many women remain unaware of opportunities to participate in clinical trials. FemTech platforms can help by providing personalised trial recommendations based on a user’s health profile. Ensuring flexible study designs, offering compensation, and addressing safety concerns can further encourage participation. More inclusive trials mean better data, leading to improved medical treatments for women.
Driving Lasting Change in Medical Research
FemTech is reshaping how women’s health is studied, offering a powerful tool to close research gaps and improve healthcare outcomes. With continued investment, regulatory support, and public engagement, these innovations will drive lasting change in clinical research, though institutional adaptation may require sustained effort.
The transition towards inclusive, data-driven healthcare requires coordinated action across multiple sectors. Researchers, policymakers, and technology leaders must collaborate to ensure medical studies reflect the needs of all patients, not those who align with traditional research parameters. Strengthening these efforts will not only advance women’s healthcare but also enhance the quality and applicability of medical research overall—creating a more equitable and effective healthcare system for everyone.
Supermarket loyalty card data suggests more than a quarter of women buying menstrual products also buy pain relief at the same time.
The findings also suggest women in lower-income areas are significantly less likely to do so, pointing to disparities in access to over-the-counter pain relief across England.
The study was led by Dr Victoria Sivill of the University of Bristol and colleagues.
The authors said: “The study highlights the need for greater awareness and policy interventions to address the high prevalence of menstrual pain as well as socioeconomic dimensions of menstrual pain.
“Public health initiatives should incorporate menstrual pain relief as part of broader efforts to improve health equity.”
Researchers analysed anonymised loyalty card data from a major UK health and beauty retailer, covering 211m transactions by 3.4m people between 2006 and 2015.
The study examined how often shoppers bought menstrual products and pain relief in the same transaction, and compared this with a customer’s usual rate of buying pain relief.
It found that 26.7 per cent of customers who bought menstrual products also bought pain relief at the same time.
These customers were nearly four times more likely to buy pain relief when buying menstrual products than on other shopping trips.
As a check on the approach, researchers found the most common interval between consecutive menstrual product purchases was exactly 28 days, consistent with the average menstrual cycle.
Menstrual pain is common and can affect daily activities, including school and work attendance.
Regional income was the strongest predictor of menstrual pain purchases.
Customers in the lowest-income areas were 32 per cent less likely to buy pain relief at the same time as menstrual products than those in the highest-income areas.
The authors said lower rates of pain relief purchases in deprived areas are likely to reflect an inability to afford over-the-counter medication rather than lower rates of menstrual pain itself.
Co-author Dr James Goulding said: “It is wonderful that smart data research in the UK is able to bring issues which may have once been overlooked in scientific settings, such as the sheer scale and impact of menstrual pain, to light. This is well overdue.
Co-author Dr Anya Skatova said: “Like many women, I was aware of how common menstrual pain is, but the scale of painkiller purchases alongside menstrual products was still striking.
“Using shopping data, we can see just how widespread the need for pain relief really is. This kind of evidence helps make menstrual pain visible at a population level and provides a strong foundation for systemic change in how it is recognised, treated, and prioritised in public health.”
Women are still being failed by menopause care despite a surge in online advice, with experts saying symptoms are too often minimised or dismissed.
The researchers exposed a gap between the surge of menopause information available online and the quality of medical care women receive.
A team of anthropologists and psychologists explored the physical and emotional toll of menopause, including its impact on work and personal lives, through interviews with 60 women aged 45 to 61 between March and June 2021.
The findings were published in a new book, We Need to Talk About Menopause.
The interviews showed how women continue to “needlessly suffer” as they sort through misinformation from influencers, celebrities and so-called experts.
The authors said: “You would think in an age where humans are developing commercial space flight, self-driving cars, and AI personal assistants who can project movies onto the palm of your hand, we would understand more about menopause, something a little over half of the population is guaranteed to experience in their lives.”
The interviews revealed wide variation in women’s experiences of doctors.
Some felt they could have an open dialogue, while others said they were “shut down”, including being told they were too young for menopause.
One woman said she bled heavily for a year before she was taken seriously.
The authors said menopause is still poorly understood, with disagreement over whether it should be seen as a medical condition or a natural part of ageing.
There are more than 100 recognised symptoms, although some women experience none.
Among those interviewed, 78 per cent reported weight gain and redistribution, particularly around the belly area, which was resistant to diet and exercise.
Fifty-eight per cent experienced mood disturbances including anxiety, depression, irritability and unprecedented levels of rage.
Many women said they were blindsided by symptoms they had never known existed.
One participant said she only realised rage was a menopause symptom after seeing it mentioned in a television commercial.
Women also described severe memory problems and brain fog that colleagues mistook for incompetence, leading successful professionals to question their abilities at the peak of their careers.
Brain fog can include problems with concentration, memory and clear thinking.
According to Statistics Canada, 70 per cent of women turn to the internet as their primary source of menopause information.
The authors said this information vacuum has spawned a £14.7bn global “meno-tech” industry, with influencers, celebrities and telehealth companies offering products ranging from £98 creams to unnecessary blood tests.
They said: “The growth of interest in menopause has also been accompanied by a wave of unsubstantiated information.
“Many websites market expensive creams, supplements, and weight-loss schemes that promise to keep women youthful and attractive, with little evidence to support their claims.
“Reliable, accessible information about menopause and perimenopause is still lacking. Despite increased attention to the importance of physician training and the search for menopause specialists, the medical profession as a whole continues to provide limited support in this area.”
The authors also highlighted the effect of menopause in the workplace.
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has warned that Britain is “haemorrhaging talent” because of menopause, with 14 million workdays lost each year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Despite this, studies have shown 80 per cent of UK employers have yet to implement proper support measures for menopausal women.
Some women said simple workplace adjustments made a significant difference.
The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) has warned against “financial half measures” on women’s health as the government published its response to the report.
Ministers launched the renewed Women’s Health Strategy in April after the committee’s March report concluded it was not convinced that the menstrual and gynaecological needs of young women and girls had been sufficiently prioritised in wider healthcare reforms.
It followed the committee’s 2024 “medical misogyny” report, which found women with painful reproductive health conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy menstrual bleeding were frequently finding their symptoms “normalised” and their “pain dismissed” when seeking help.
In both reports, MPs called on the government to recognise the benefits of increased investment in early diagnosis and treatment of women’s reproductive health conditions and provide additional funding needed to transform the support available to millions of women.
In its response, published on 26 May as a command paper, the Department of Health and Social Care outlined action on reducing gynae waiting times, ensuring procedures are conducted with women’s full consent and adequate pain relief, and improving access to contraception for menstrual healthcare in line with the committee’s recommendations.
It said: “The government agrees with the committee’s overarching findings and recommendations for improving women’s health outcomes and experiences.
“We acknowledge the impact that menstrual health conditions can have on women’s lives, relationships, and participation in education and the workforce.
“We recognise that more needs to be done to support women with menstrual health conditions, particularly around listening to women, improving information and education, and enhancing patient experience.”
However, there was no commitment to increase school nurse provision, no measurable actions and targets on countering online misinformation, no new commitments to end inappropriate censorship of women’s online health content, and no further initiatives on tackling racial discrimination or understanding the menstrual wellbeing needs of young disabled and Deaf women.
The response comes after analysis by The Times suggested the government is allocating 60 per cent more funding to its men’s health strategy than to its renewed strategy for women’s health.
Sarah Owen, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and Labour MP, said: “WEC’s 2024 ‘medical misogyny’ report warned 18 months ago of women in unnecessary pain and undiagnosed for years and called on the Government to recognise the benefits of increased investment in early diagnosis and treatment.
“Our follow up report this March cautioned girls’ and women’s health are not being sufficiently prioritised in system-wide NHS reforms, while initiatives which have proven to be successful in reducing waiting lists and improving women’s healthcare access, such as women’s health hubs, risked being scaled back or discontinued.
“While it’s welcome to see a focus on tackling ‘medical misogyny’ in April’s renewed Women’s Health Strategy and an emphasis on women’s voices being heard, this must be backed by adequate funding, not financial half measures, particularly when compared to men’s health.
“Significant questions remain following today’s response publication over the adequacy of investment being provided, including for workforce training, menstrual health education in schools, research and additional ring-fenced funding for women’s health hubs to deliver services within the emerging neighbourhood health framework.
“There are both opportunities and risks when it comes to increasing use of technology in women’s healthcare.
“As the Committee’s report set out, social media companies should be held to account for inappropriate and disgraceful ‘shadow banning’ censorship of important women’s health content and there should be a rigorous approach to tackling the risks from ineffective, unsafe and exploitative for-profit FemTech apps.
“The Government should take the problem of ‘shadow banning’ more seriously.
“A strategy which does not fully address the concerns set out in WEC’s report, alongside measurable actions and timescales, will only scratch the surface of the issues facing women’s health.
“WEC will keep a close eye on progress and continue to push for long overdue tangible change for women and girls.”
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