The 'moonshot' to control menopause

3 years ago

Html
Text

April 20, 2021

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Germany’s Green Party fields a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor weighs in on two cases, and founder and CEO Piraye Beim wants to disrupt menopause. Have a great Tuesday.
– A menopause ‘moonshot.’ Piraye Beim has a succinct sales pitch: menopause control. The founder and CEO of startup Celmatix is on a mission to achieve what she calls a “moonshot.”
In a new interview with my colleague Beth Kowitt, Beim explains that delaying menopause would mean staving off the health factors associated with it, like heart disease and Alzheimer’s. “If we could buy women an extra 10 to 15 years of natural endocrine function, we’re talking about a huge boost in their vitality and their wellness at a critical stage in their life,” Beim says. “It will align us more with men, basically.”
Celmatix is developing a drug program to slow the depletion of a woman’s ovarian reserve; it’s expected to enter clinical trials in 2023.
As fascinating as Celmatix’s drug is the market the company operates in. Women’s health therapeutics is unique for just how little disruption has occurred in the past several decades. Beim argues that pharma companies are not incentivized to innovate partly because the women’s health drugs currently in use are big money-makers, with some franchises raking in $1 billion a year.
That’s starting to change. Why? Beim points to broader societal changes in the past year and half, from COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on women to public recognition that only a sliver of funding goes to female founders. “The broader cultural focus and shift in female empowerment is becoming loud and clear to pharma,” she says.
You can read Beth’s story here.
Claire Zillman
claire.zillman@fortune.com
@clairezillman
The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

A note from Fortune

Billionaires are doubling down on a surprising investment

You can access it too. Subscribe now to unlock this story and learn more about Wall Street’s biggest bets this quarter. Read more.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Going green. Germany's Green Party is fielding Annalena Baerbock as a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. It's a significant move because the country's smaller parties usually don't put forward candidates for the role. Fortune
- Listing results. Trip.com, the travel business led by CEO Jane Sun, went public via a secondary offering in Hong Kong yesterday. The company says it expects to see record travel in China over upcoming holidays in May. CNBC
- No to vaccine nationalism. World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a month-and-a-half into her tenure, has prioritized global vaccine equity. Her focus isn't a surprise given her background as chair of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, but it is a departure from the job of WTO leader, which has traditionally stuck to symbolic and mediating work. Meanwhile, activist Greta Thunberg has joined the fight against vaccine inequity, calling it "unethical" that young people in rich countries are being vaccinated before health care workers in poorer nations.
- Important opinions. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote about two cases this week—not to issue decisions, but to draw attention to the court's decision not to hear them. The justice weighed in on Brown v. Polk County, about a woman's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches (this one involving a medical examination), and Whatley v. Warden, about a man's "ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment." Slate
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Former Pepperidge Farms CEO Irene Chang Britt joins MikMak’s board of directors. Rosina Shiliwala, a former Marcus by Goldman Sachs exec, joined Audible as VP, global social media.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Sky's the limit? As the world starts to open up, women are making one decision: to return to high heels or not. Some women say they've started reincorporating heels into their wardrobes slowly—and podiatrists advise building up from low heels to high ones and trying exercises like writing the letters of the alphabet with your toes. Wall Street Journal
- Bryant v. LASD. Vanessa Bryant is taking on the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for invasion of privacy and negligence over photos of the crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna. Activists who've tried to draw attention to problems with the department in the past say Bryant's determination and celebrity are making major headway. New York Times
- Baby watch. China is expected to soon release the results of its once-a-decade census—and the milestone is drawing attention to numbers like birth rate and population growth. Meanwhile, under Xi Jinping, the Communist Party has talked about women's role in "family values"—but many young women say they're not in a rush to get married or have kids. Wall Street Journal

ON MY RADAR

Amy Coney Barrett lands book deal Politico
The Afrofuturist sounds of Dawn Richard The New Yorker
Here's how to fix online harassment. No, seriously Wired UK

PARTING WORDS

"I am fascinated by this body and this life. I am humbled and pleased to be any inspiration for people."
-Actor Selma Blair on her multiple sclerosis diagnosis