Engagement in women’s health of the top 100 global healthcare companies BOX 2 An assessment of the top 100 global pharmaceutical, medtech and diagnostics companies by revenue reveals limited, uneven participation in women’s health. Only a minority demonstrate meaningful activity, and even fewer position women’s health as a distinct commercial or research priority. Key findings –Limited sector participation: Roughly one-quarter of the top 100 global healthcare players have a dedicated women’s health business unit, at least one active R&D programme targeting a women’s health indication or a commercial product line focused primarily on women’s health. Only a handful of those firms operate a distinct business or portfolio explicitly branded around women’s health. –Sparse R&D investment: Very few companies publicly disclose a women’s health R&D carve- out; most embed it in broader R&D lines. Where figures are available, annual investment typically ranges between $200 million and $600 million per company. –Functional focus in diagnostics and imaging: Roughly 80% of reported spend is directed to diagnostics and screening technologies, particularly in breast and cervical cancer imaging, fertility and IVF services, and prenatal testing. –Therapeutic focus is limited to a few high-profile areas: Engagement is strongest in maternal and foetal care, sexually transmitted infections and vaginitis, cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV), fertility and IVF, breast imaging and cancer, contraception, gynaecological surgery and menopause. Few companies invest meaningfully in endometriosis, PCOS or chronic gynaecological and autoimmune conditions with a high female disease burden. Interestingly, menopause receives greater attention from these large companies than from the broader private-sector investment landscape, where there are limited identified capital flows in companies that were specific to menopause. However, it is possible that some investments may have been classified as “generic women’s health” rather than “menopausal health”, particularly where companies span multiple therapeutic areas. As a result, the actual level of investment in menopause research or programmes in the included dataset may be understated. –Programmatic initiatives remain modest: Some large companies have launched global women’s health programmes, including one commitment for $200 million over five years and another for $650 million, but these are exceptions rather than the norm. Implications Women’s health represents a major untapped commercial opportunity for large healthcare incumbents. –Untapped commercial opportunity: This under-representation of women’s health in the top 100 companies suggests an opportunity to leverage core capabilities for women’s indications that share similar scientific foundations with broader healthcare areas, as well as for high-burden conditions that require women-specific approaches. –Need for defined accountability: Greater transparency and dedicated budgeting for women’s health R&D would improve investor confidence and help benchmark progress towards closing the women’s health gap. –Potential for catalytic impact: Beyond the commercial upside, increased participation from major healthcare players could help unlock system-level scale, strengthen investor momentum, de-risk innovation and signal confidence in women’s health as a defined and investable market segment. Women’s Health Investment Outlook 18

Womens Health Investment Outlook 2026