Leaders from the growing female health (FemHealth) sector believe that securing insurance coverage for their businesses remains one of the challenges within the industry, according to research by Tokio Marine Kiln.
The international insurer conducted one-to-one interviews with 47 founders of FemHealth businesses. FemHealth companies support women’s sexual health, including menstruation, contraception, fertility, pregnancy, and menopause.
The FemHealth sector is expected to more than triple to $103 billion from $28 billion by 2030, but according to the research findings, about 76% of the respondents said they are struggling to secure insurance coverage for their businesses.
Without this vital insurance, founders cannot secure investment, run clinical trials, or develop market products.
Meanwhile, about 56% of the respondents said the cost of insurance is prohibitive and 51% said the process of securing one is complex.
More than a third of the respondents also said that broker and underwriter understanding of the specific and unique risks of the sector is limited. Thirty-nine (39) percent also noted that underwriters had no appetite for these risks, while 34% said they faced challenging exclusions in their policies.
The report also found that FemHealth businesses are facing hurdles in accessing funding and digital censorship is not making it easier.
Following these results, Tokio Marine said there is a “clear opportunity” for the insurance industry to increase its understanding of the risks the FemHealth sector faces in order to develop offerings that will address these issues and contribute to the growth of the sector.
Commenting on the research findings, Kirsten Shastri, head of life sciences at Tokio Marine, said that the company is committed to working with partners to better understand the sector and bring more products, like the company’s IntelliMed offering, to the market.
“Our bespoke IntelliMed product is proving to be a key enabler for businesses like these,” Shastri noted.
IntelliMed covers life sciences liability risks with cyber and IP under one policy, simplifying the processes for businesses and reducing the risk of coverage gaps. It can be used to cover various sectors, from FemHealth to biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and telemedicine.
“Raising awareness and understanding of these issues will open doors for these founders, our industry, our customers and society at large who will ultimately benefit from the advances they make,” she concluded.
