Women outlive men in almost every society but, paradoxically, spend 25% more of their lives in poor health. Gender disparities make women more vulnerable to chronic illnesses, with higher incidences of pain, disability, and medication-related complications.

With an average of nine years spent in poor health, a women’s productivity at work and at home is hindered; 45% of this health burden affects women of working age, reducing their earning potential.

While ‘women’s health’ is often perceived as considering only sex and reproductive health, 43% of conditions impacting women are no differently to those experienced by men. While 56% are not sex specific diseases but are found to be more prevalent or manifest differently in the female sex.

These realities reveal a significant gap in our healthcare system: treatments, pharmaceuticals, and clinical approaches frequently overlook essential biological differences between men and women.

As medical science progresses so must our understanding of what offering patient-centered care truly means. Currently, we are failing to serve half of the population: women. At Harmonia, we are bridging this gap by recognizing gender differences and designing treatments specifically for women’s unique physiology, that also accommodate their mental health and lifestyle needs.

The Impact of Physiology on Treatment Response

The science that informs medicine has routinely failed to fully consider the impacts of sex within the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Yet biological sex influences nearly every aspect of health, from drug metabolism to treatment efficacy.

Women, for example, tend to metabolize medications at different rates than men, resulting in unique dosing needs. Males tend to weigh more than females, yet few drug doses are based on body weight. Nor do they consider the major endocrine changes experienced by women throughout their lifetime, including puberty, pregnancy and menopause, which can impact the regulative functions of the body and influence the action and performance of a drug.

When these differences aren’t considered, women experience more side effects or find treatment to be less effective, leading to complications that could have otherwise been prevented. In fact, female sex has even shown to be a risk factor for adverse drug reactions.

For instance, statins, commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol, can be effective for many women, but women are more likely to experience side effects such as muscle pain, fatigue, and increased risk of diabetes.

However, as these drugs were primarily developed and tested on men, guidelines for managing these adverse effects remain largely unrefined. Many women are left under-treated or managing side effects that could be reduced through tailored approaches, or abandoning treatment altogether.

Beyond drug metabolism, hormonal fluctuations also impact how women respond to drugs. Menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, and hormone-based therapies, such as oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT), can affect the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs, potentially worsening side effects and limiting treatment effectiveness.

Tailoring Treatment in Women’s Healthcare

A recent study reviewing 400 drugs, found that only 20% showed work differently in women versus men. Shockingly, nearly a quarter of these drugs lacked any data on how they affect women specifically. This gap highlights a major issue: the one-size-fits-all approach to medication doesn’t account for female biology, leading to treatments that can be less effective or even risky for women.

To close this gap, we must stop ignoring gender differences in drug responses and start tailoring treatment to women by adjusting dosages and considering how hormones might influence responses to drugs.

However, effective and compassionate care is about more than this; it’s about redesigning protocols to adapt and respond to women’s needs. This personalized approach starts with open conversations between patients and providers, helping women feel involved in health decisions.

Harmonia has taken a big step forward with its patient-centered approach to treating women with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a severe form of pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. Despite affecting up to 10.8% of pregnancies, it has long been under-treated due to misconceptions that it is “just morning sickness”, with providers historically dismissing women’s account of symptoms and pain. But by addressing HG with targeted treatments in women centric environments, building a model for responsive care that acknowledges the unique needs of women.

Women-Led Innovation: Paving the Way for Future Healthcare

Transforming women’s healthcare means redefining our view of and approach to treatment. Harmonia envisions a future where treatments are developed with women’s physiological needs in mind, closing the gender gap and creating an inclusive system that serves every patient.

However, achieving this transformation requires female-led innovation in three key areas:

• Increasing Research into Female-Specific Disease: Conditions like endometriosis, HG, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and menopause-related challenges are often underfunded and overlooked. Even conditions like migraines and anxiety disorders, which predominantly affect women, receive less attention than they deserve.

Between 2009-2023 only 7.2% of drugs the FDA approved (599) were to treat women-specific diseases or conditions.

Table taken from Young W. B. (2024). Women’s Healthcare: Call for Action. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 67(11), 8473–8480More research into these areas is essential to close the knowledge gap and improve outcomes for women.

• More Women in Leadership Roles: Currently, only 25% of healthcare leadership roles are held by women globally. By pushing for more women in decision-making positions, healthcare organizations are more likely to prioritize research and development that addresses women’s unique health concerns, drive initiatives that otherwise may be overlooked, and ultimately pave the way for a more inclusive healthcare landscape.
• Training for Healthcare Providers: Women’s health issues are frequently overlooked in medical training. For example, a recent survey revealed that fewer than one-third of obstetrics and gynecology residency programs offer a menopause curriculum. We need better training focused on conditions affecting women, such as menopause, to improve patient outcomes and ensure all providers have the knowledge needed to support women’s health.

Building a Healthcare System that Hears Women

For too long, women have navigated a healthcare system that defaults to male physiology, leaving them with fewer effective treatments and more time spent in poor health. It’s time for that to change. Women deserve a proactive, tailored approach to healthcare that respects their unique needs.

Investments addressing the women’s health gap would simply improve quality of life and longevity for women, but could also boost the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2040.

Harmonia is committed to advancing these efforts, and we urge others to join us. We encourage providers to challenge traditional approaches, counter gender biases, and support ongoing research in female-specific diseases to broaden our understanding and improve outcomes. Women deserve better, and we’re here to make that a reality.

To learn more about how Harmonia is leading the way with compassionate care for women, explore our website. Together, we have the power to revolutionize healthcare for women, providing treatment that is as unique and resilient as they are.