It’s not a secret that finally, after years of being overlooked, women’s health is having its moment. According to Frost & Sullivan’s report, the femtech (female technology) market revenue is expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9%. The report states that, through solutions targeting early diagnosis and leveraging connected healthcare services, these technologies can reduce healthcare costs, decreasing the overall cost burden of a country while elevating healthcare standards and quality of life for women. But it took a long time for female healthcare to be where it is today. 

Ever since the FDA (The United States Food and Drug Administration) in 1977 issued a guideline banning most women of “childbearing potential” from participating in clinical research studies (since certain drugs at that time were causing serious birth defects), women weren’t included (at least not enough) in medical research. In 1985, new guidelines were issued to encourage more inclusion of women in studies. However, even that wasn’t enough to close the gender gap in medical research – analyses found that women were still seriously underrepresented in important studies on common diseases such as heart disease. Finally, in 1993, the FDA issued a new guideline which was followed by Congress writing the NIH inclusion policy into Federal law through a section in the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 titled Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research.

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