Women’s health has been historically underfunded and under-researched, despite representing half of the global population. While conditions like cardiovascular disease and oncology receive billions in research and development funding annually, areas specific to women, such as endometriosis, preeclampsia, and non-hormonal contraception, have been largely neglected.

A 2025 analysis of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding found that gynecologic projects received 0.1-0.2% of the total NIH funding. This disparity is often referred to as the “data diversity gap,” where clinical trials have historically relied on male participants, leading to a poor understanding of how diseases manifest and how treatments work in women.

This funding chasm creates a vicious cycle: a lack of data makes it difficult to secure venture capital, which typically operates on shorter timelines, and regulatory hurdles can be disproportionately high. The result is a critical lack of innovative solutions for conditions that cause significant suffering.

Against this backdrop, new initiatives are emerging to challenge the status quo. One such effort is XFem Labs, a new Women’s Health R&D Accelerator launched by the BioMed X Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. Supported by the Gates Foundation, its mission is to establish a world-class women’s health innovation hub that advances early-stage research into scalable solutions for women worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

To understand this initiative, we spoke with Dr. Christian Tidona, founder and CEO of BioMed X. What follows is a journey into the stark realities of women’s health funding and a bold new model designed to make a difference.

A “Shocking” Disparity

Christian is no stranger to the world of high-stakes biomedical research. For twelve years, BioMed X has operated at the intersection of academia and industry, tackling mainstream therapeutic areas like oncology, autoimmune diseases, and neurosciences. But when the Gates Foundation opened the door to women’s health, Christian’s team encountered a landscape vastly different from the one they knew.

“We did some research when we applied for the grant from the Gates Foundation to see what’s out there in terms of research on the academic side, but also in terms of funding opportunities such as venture capital, public funding, and investment from pharmaceutical companies,” Christian recalls. “Women make up 50% of the population, yet we found there is almost no funding or pharmaceutical R&D investment compared to, for example, the double-digit billions in funding that go into cancer research every year.”

The numbers confirm his assessment. While global funding for oncology R&D regularly exceeds $40 billion annually, investment in women’s health-specific conditions is a mere fraction. A 2024 report from McKinsey & Company estimated that addressing the women’s health burden could boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040. Yet the sector remains dramatically underfunded. This neglect is particularly acute in low and middle-income countries, where, as Christian notes, cultural and religious barriers often prevent women from accessing basic care.

The Vicious Cycle of Neglect

This funding gap is both a cause and a consequence of a deeper problem: a critical lack of data. For Christian, this is part of a larger movement he calls “closing the data diversity gap in clinical trials.”

“Because if you look at how our new drugs are approved today, most of the clinical trial subjects are white middle-aged men, and then these products are launched into the market,” he explains. “And nobody knows how they work in women, how they work in young people, in old people, in people of different ethnic backgrounds.”

This historical exclusion has profound consequences. Research has found that women are 50-75% more likely to experience an adverse drug reaction than men, in part because dosages were historically calibrated for the male physiology. When data on women does not exist, it becomes exponentially harder to build a compelling case for new, female-specific treatments, creating a cycle of ignorance and inaction.

This cycle is reinforced by a perceived lack of commercial viability and, as Christian discovered, significant regulatory barriers. He recounts a discussion with the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company about the difficulty of bringing a new non-hormonal contraceptive to market.

“He answered, first of all, there’s a big regulatory barrier because regulators say, well, there are all these hormonal products that are working well, why should we have yet another contraceptive on the market? And they do not really see the huge advantages it would bring by ending all this interference with the female bleeding cycle and with pain and other side effects you’re getting from these hormonal products.”

He posits that this myopia is systemic. “By regulators and also by society, women’s health problems are not really seen as a high medical need, and, I think, this is maybe also in part because many of these agencies are run by men and decision-making is made by men, and people are not really aware that this is a massive problem.”

The XFem Labs Model

The launch of XFem Labs is an attempt to break this cycle. The initiative’s first project, “New Strategies for Female-Controlled Non-Hormonal Contraception,” tackles a pressing global need. Current estimates suggest that over 257 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective modern contraception. Current hormonal options, often associated with side effects, result in high discontinuation rates.

But why is now the right time for such a venture? For Christian, it’s about aligning with a growing global movement. “The entire movement of closing the data diversity gap is gaining momentum. Large organizations like the Gates Foundation recognize it’s a good time to invest and find models that leverage charitable funding with private sector money.”

The BioMed X model is uniquely structured to de-risk early-stage research for pharmaceutical partners. It begins with a “call for application” that defines a specific, high-need problem. Then, through a global crowdsourcing platform, they identify the world’s top early-career scientists. These talents are invited to a five-day boot camp where they form teams and craft project proposals.

“At the last day of the boot camp, a jury of investors and pharma sector partners then selects the winning proposal,” Christian says. The winning team relocates to BioMed X’s state-of-the-art biomedical research facility in Heidelberg, receiving funding, mentorship, and resources for two to five years. The goal is to advance the science to a point where an industry partner can seamlessly transfer it into their development pipeline or an investor can fund it in the form of a startup company.

“Out of the 19 projects we have completed at BioMed X in the past 12 years, 14 were then acquired and transferred to the sponsoring pharmaceutical partner and used in internal drug discovery and development,” Christian states. “And this relatively high success rate is what we expect also in our collaboration with the Gates Foundation.”

Beyond Contraception and the Path Ahead

While contraception is the starting point, Christian’s vision for XFem Labs is far broader. When asked about other areas of interest, his answer is immediate.

“Endometriosis is very close to my heart. There is no curative therapy, only painkillers, and it causes a lot of suffering worldwide. I’ve already started talking with pharmaceutical companies that are interested in this topic.”

He also lists preeclampsia and sexually-transmitted infections as other high-priority fields. However, he distinguishes XFem Labs’ mission from mainstream women’s health issues like breast cancer, which, while critical, already attract significant investment. The focus will remain on the most neglected areas.

Success, for Christian, is measured by tangible impact. A key component of the Gates Foundation partnership is a “global access policy,” ensuring that any resulting products are made available in low- and middle-income countries at preferred conditions.

“Our biggest dream is that a lot of what we start doing will end up in the R&D pipeline of major pharma companies or will attract lots of investment,” he says. “Our goal is to leverage the initial Gates Foundation funding with a multiple of private sector funding.”

He acknowledges the scale of the challenge, noting that the drug development process takes “12 to 15 years and two to $5 billion per drug.” But he believes the model is the message. “We won’t solve all the problems, but we hope to make a significant contribution by bridging the initial “valley of death” between academic research and the pharmaceutical industry.”

XFem Labs’ call for applications for the “New Strategies for Female-Controlled Non-Hormonal Contraception” project is open until December 7.