At Adelphi Real World, we are committed to creating space for research in women’s health conditions and, in particular, we seek to prioritise the patient voice in women’s health conditions, which has previously been overlooked. Our current areas of focus for provision of real-world evidence and insights centre around gynaecological and reproductive health conditions that affect women including endometriosis, uterine fibroids and the menopause, and a recent expansion into urinary conditions. There also exists historic expertise in Osteoporosis.

Across many gynaecological conditions we see patterns of similarities in both the current standard of care, and the often-dissatisfactory experience of the patient. Patient delays in seeking medical care, a high frequency of subsequent misdiagnoses, and a lack of access to information around therapeutic options remain ongoing hurdles in the medical community for women’s healthcare. Using our DSP methodology, we seek to better understand the experience of women who have these conditions, examining factors such as self-reported extent of pain, social and lifestyle impact, as well as productivity and activity impairment.

In the past, the treatment of women’s health conditions has been relatively homogenous, largely involving the use of contraceptives and pain relief. For women experiencing the menopause who opt to seek medical assistance the use of hormone therapy, contraceptives and antidepressants has commonly been seen as the mainstay in symptom control. Despite this care, the reduced quality of life experienced by women experiencing these conditions highlights that improvements are still needed.

With recent developments in the treatment landscape of women’s health conditions, new options are now emerging. Most recently, novel antagonistic analogues of GnRH have been developed for the treatment of pelvic pain associated with endometriosis, and treatment for uterine fibroid-associated heavy menstrual bleeding. Additionally, non-hormonal treatment options are now entering the market, such as neurokinin 3 (NK3) receptor antagonists, for postmenopausal women experiencing vasomotor symptoms (VMS).

Through our DSP research we will be monitoring the impact of novel therapeutics spanning a range of conditions across the women’s healthcare treatment landscape and seeking to understand the uptake from physicians and their consulting patients in a real-world setting. Our aim as a team is to continue providing support to the medical community with our research and broaden our coverage of conditions that predominantly affect women. By better understanding the patient experience, we hope to help in improving therapy options, access and ultimate quality of life for women.