MedTech: The Need for Innovation in Women’s Health

Despite the large number of diseases and conditions affecting women, the women’s health segment in medical technology (medtech) industry remains under-represented. It is observed that there is a lack of early-stage venture investments in medtech focusing on women’s health.

Dr Sidney Yee, Executive Vice-President of ETPL, and Chief Executive of the Diagnostics Development (DxD) Hub, shared that there continues to be a gap in the early-stage type of support for scientific innovations, but technological advances and the advent of genomics research are raising awareness of women’s health.

The public sector continues to lead in research and development in medtech and women’s health. Through a partnership with A*STAR, Innovations Exchange Pte Ltd (Inex), a molecular diagnostics company, has developed a non-invasive prenatal testing and a rapid ovarian cancer detection kit. A*STAR has also collaborated with medical imaging start-up FITPU Healthcare, a joint spin-off of A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R) and the National Cancer Centre, which aims to provide cutting-edge solutions in oncology imaging analytics that enable precise diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. It also tied up with start-up incubator The Biofactory, independently validating genetic screening for potential hereditary disorders, which could help would-be parents in family planning.

Read more below:

• The Business Times: Out of the Loop