A group of Democratic and Republican senators introduced a bill on Thursday that calls for $275 million toward federal menopause research and awareness efforts over five years.
The legislation would designate $25 million a year for five years to fund NIH grants, increase coordination on menopause research within the NIH and HHS, and require HHS to expand research and reporting on menopause and mid-life women’s health. It would also authorize funds for education, training and promotion efforts.
Yesmean Wahdan“It’s bigger than just menopause,” Yesmean Wahdan, Bayer’s VP of US medical affairs in women’s healthcare, told Endpoints News on Friday. “Women’s healthcare in general is a space that is underrepresented when it comes to research and innovation.”
Women’s health advocacy has gained momentum in recent months, following multiple White House initiatives to expand research. HHS’ Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health committed $100 million in February for women’s health R&D, and a month later, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing agencies to expand and prioritize women’s health research and data collection.
Last May, Astellas won approval for a new type of treatment for vasomotor symptoms, otherwise known as hot flashes. The drug, Veozah, generated 7.3 billion yen ($47.7 million) in 2023.
“The midlife women’s health space has long been neglected due to stigma and lack of understanding, with limited guidance, support and solutions available to women,” the company said in a statement to Endpoints on Friday.
Bayer is working on a Veozah competitor, elinzanetant, which met its primary endpoints in two Phase 3 studies earlier this year.
“Menopause is actually more than hot flashes,” Wahdan said Friday. “This legislation is so clutch. It’s so critical because it allows us to open folks’ eyes, go into this eyes wide open and research, take a look at what’s happening, and what solutions can we bring forward to address all that’s happening in menopause.”
The bill was introduced by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and co-sponsored by several others. No male lawmakers co-sponsored the bill at its introduction.
“Menopause is a reality in every woman’s life — yet it is astonishing how little research has been done to address the multitude of symptoms and treatments,” Murkowski said in a news release. “It is past time for us to extend our research focus to be inclusive of women across the full spectrum of life.”