When it comes to healthcare innovations, Maneesha Ghiya means business.
As a Hedge Funds capital and investor, Harvard Business Grad has spent more than 25 years – almost her entire career – investing in healthcare.
But when a medical condition almost took her life, Ghiya saw firsthand the need for innovation in women’s health care in particular. So she started her own business capital business, Femhealth Ventures, to fill this gap.
Femhealth Ventures works with businesses to promote women’s health through medicines, devices, digital and artificial intelligence and diagnostics (imaging, testing and tools).
The company’s investment approach examines women’s health conditions in three ways: “only women” (endometriosis), “mainly women” (breast cancer) and “different in women” (heart disease).
“We have created and published this framework in 2019 and has since been adopted by many others throughout the healthcare industry. With the determination of women’s health, we are able to identify and promote innovations that face GHIya’s health.”
We asked Ghiya about her thoughts on the solutions based on technology that makes waves in women’s health and how her own terrorism of health inspired her passion for change.
Our interview follows, processing for clarity and length.
Healthywomen: Tell us about your experience with postpartum bleeding and how did it lead to the start of Femhealth business?
Maneesha Ghiya: When I was born my daughter at the University of Columbia under the care of a top Ob-Gyn, I encountered serious complications.
What began as an emergency C department turned into a crisis with an unstable internal bleeding. Four surgeons reviewed that was ultimately unsuccessful in detecting the source and transferred to the ICU, where I underwent 10 blood and platelet transfusions.
Fortunately, my body fell with the bleeding and I survived. But this test fueled a desire for me to make a difference in women’s health, which led me to find Femhealth ventures.
Read: Postpartum bleeding is a deadly problem >>
HW: Historically, we know that women’s health has been overlooked and not funded. How does it help FemTech to broaden interest in women’s health?
Ghiya: We invest in drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital and artificial intelligence in women’s health. We believe that FemTech a subset of women’s health and we will see any software platforms or AIs adapted to the health of women who fall into focus on our digital and AI investment.
For example, we invested in a company called Cercle AI. Its product analyzes patient records in a fertility clinic, allowing doctors to quickly access data on how to deal with similar cases, including protocols, success rates and side effects.
This helps to optimize treatment plans, which lead to higher success rates – which, for those familiar with the journey of IVF, are incredibly harmful.
Read: Infertility is not just a natural journey – it is emotional, also >>
HW: What do you find more exciting in the world of FemTech right now?
Ghiya: I am excited to see how AI and Robotics can increase the care standard in medical centers.
An exciting application we see in the robotics category and AI is for needle -based processes. For example, look at the skills during work – 1 in 10 either fail or you need adjustment because each person has a different anatomy, which makes it difficult for experts difficult to achieve precise needle placement.
One of our portfolio companies, Mendaera, has created a robotic needle guidance device that combines the depicting ultrasound with robotic tradition.
In addition to the delicacies, this technology can be applied to processes such as nerve blocks and breast biopsies. This is a game of change, because, previously, only clinicians could perform these types of procedures with efficiency and accuracy. With this robotic guidance system and AI, more clinical doctors can provide more precisely the needle -based care, which is extremely detrimental to patients who may not have access to large medical centers.
HW: Ever since Femhealth Ventures started, tell us about a product/innovation that was very memorable to you.
Ghiya: We were very excited when Gynesonics portfolio was acquired in January by Hologic. Currently, more than 200,000 women in the US undergo hysterectomy each year due to severe and often weakening symptoms of fibroids.
Gynesonics offers a new solution: a non -surgical procedure removal. The procedure is free from incisions, allowing women to return to work just the next day-in comparison with the recovery of months associated with surgery. Thanks to gyneconia, hundreds of thousands of women will avoid hysterectomies. It was exciting to see this amazing innovation to be transferred to more women through this acquisition.
HW: What great developments do you hope to see in women’s health care in the near future or what should we have on our radar?
Ghiya: I am excited to see more solutions for women in the postpartum depression (PPD). Unfortunately, mother mortality rates in the US have been increasing in recent years, while PPD is an important contributor. Responding to this emergency need, we invested in Neurosciences Reunion, which is developing an important pharmaceutical treatment to treat PPD.
Includes a one -time, four -hour treatment administered in specialized installation by trained medical professionals [and has shown promising results in clinical trials]. Pharmaceutical therapy is currently undergoing full test and approval of the FDA and will only be available under medical supervision.
Read: When depression was hit after childbirth, I heard only the lies my depression told me >>
HW: What are your tips on how readers can help support FemTech innovations?
Ghiya: We encourage those who are interested in supporting women’s health to remain informed.
My company regularly publishes articles about our LinkedIn about basic women’s health updates and updates from portfolio companies that focus on the health of our women. An excellent example of a recent women’s health information is the Gates Foundation that binds $ 2.5 billion for women’s health initiatives. We are excited to see the growing focus and impulse in the women’s health.
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