From afterthought to breakthrough: $100m for women’s health

Sep 14, 2025

Women spend nine years longer in poor health than men. Yet less than 1% of global pharma R&D targets conditions beyond women’s cancers.

Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal (founded 2015) and Wellcome Leap (founded 2020 by the Wellcome Trust) are committing $100 million to accelerate breakthroughs in women’s health, with results measured in years, not decades.

Why this matters

Systemic neglect: From cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer’s, women’s health has been chronically underfunded.
Menopause blind spot: Gates has named menopause as a priority. Regina Dugan, CEO of Wellcome Leap, points out that 99% of studies on the biology of aging exclude menopause, a universal transition for half the population.
Critical gaps: Women make up 80% of autoimmune patients and two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases, yet treatments are rarely designed with them.
Life-and-death stakes: Every 16 seconds a baby is stillborn, with 40% linked to placental complications, an organ still poorly understood.

The numbers we can’t ignore

9 years: additional time women spend in poor health
8.8% (U.S.): NIH budget for women’s health (2013–2023)
<1% pharma R&D for non-cancer women’s conditions (2024)
80%: women’s share of autoimmune patients
99% aging studies that exclude menopause
Every 16 seconds (global): a stillbirth occurs

The bigger picture

Wellcome Leap applies a DARPA-style model: ambitious goals, global teams, rapid execution, to health innovation. Its In Utero program, for instance, is developing predictive maternal blood tests to cut stillbirth rates in half.

With Pivotal’s match, investment in women’s health programmes now totals $250 million, framed as part of a larger $1 billion philanthropic goal. The message is clear: treat women’s health as a frontier of innovation, not an afterthought.

What we’ll be watching

Will governments, pharma, and private capital step up to match this urgency?
Can this model deliver breakthroughs within 3–5 years?
Will women scientists, founders, and investors be brought into the innovation cycle?
Will women’s health finally move from “niche” to mainstream health priority?

Final thought

For decades, women have been told to tolerate pain, accept misdiagnoses, or wait for research that never came. This partnership signals a different future, one where women’s health is no longer sidelined but treated as a catalyst for innovation.

If we close the gap, we don’t just extend women’s lives, we expand what’s possible for families, economies, and societies everywhere.

The question is no longer if breakthroughs in women’s health can be achieved. It’s whether we will choose to make them happen—now, and at the scale women deserve.

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

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