Movember Memo: Wellness Tips and Emerging Movers – Because Men’s Health Matters
During the month of “Movember” we shine a light on Men’s Health to help raise awareness for diseases and issues predominately faced by men and remind all the gents that their health is important to stay on top of. Only 60% of men go for a yearly checkup and are significantly less likely to see a doctor than women. According to the University of Indiana, the overall mortality rate is 41% higher for men than women, and it’s higher for men for 8 out of 10 leading causes of death—including heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.
PRISM MarketView takes an inside look at some common health related male dominated issues and examines the companies who are addressing these indications and working to put men’s health at the forefront.
Start with Your Heart – Leading Cause of Death in Men
Men develop heart disease 10 years earlier on average than women do. Additionally, men suffer and die from heart disease more than women. The reason men are at increased risk of heart attack earlier in life is due to hormone changes, abdominal obesity, and emotional challenges in middle adulthood. While symptoms for heart disease are typically, heart attack and arrhythmia, the CDC claims high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease.
Verve Therapeutics (VERV) is a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to the care of cardiovascular disease through gene editing. The company focuses on developing single-course, gene-editing therapies designed to address the root causes of inherited cardiovascular conditions. Using advanced base-editing technology, Verve aims to provide transformative, durable solutions for conditions such as familial hypercholesterolemia and other genetic contributors to heart disease. In its recent 3Q financial release, the company announced progress of its pipeline with seven participants across two cohorts dosed in the Heart-2 Phase 1b clinical trial of VERVE-102 targeting PCSK9. The initial data is planned for the first half of 2025. Additionally, its first participant was dosed in the Pulse-1 Phase 1b clinical trial of VERVE-201 targeting ANGPTL3 with ongoing enrollments in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. From a financial perspective, Verve believes it has a cash runway through 2026 with cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $539.9M.
The Canary in The Coalmine – Erectile Dysfunction
One significant early indicator of heart disease may not be the kind of health issue you may think would be related. According to an expert from Johns Hopkins, “A lot of people think erectile dysfunction is the inability to get an erection at all, but an early sign of the condition is not being able to maintain an erection long enough to have satisfactory sexual intercourse.” Erectile problems aren’t a normal part of getting older as many people think; rather, they almost always indicate a physical problem. Erectile dysfunction affects nearly 30 million men of all ages across the United States. If you’re having problems, see a urologist and make sure it’s not an early warning sign for something more serious, like heart disease, high blood pressure or high blood sugar.
Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (HIMS) is a telehealth platform revolutionizing access to affordable, high-quality care for a wide range of health and wellness needs. The company offers personalized, direct-to-consumer services for issues such as hair loss, skincare, sexual health, mental health, and more. By combining a seamless digital experience with licensed healthcare professionals and FDA-approved medications, Hims & Hers empowers individuals to take control of their health. Most recently, the company announced its newest initiative to expand its nutrition support to fuel customers’ weight loss journeys with the addition of daily meal replacement bars and shakes.
Be Proactive in Prostate Health – Second Leading Cause of Cancer Death
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for men in the United States. About 1 of 44 men in the US will die of prostate cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer can be a serious disease, but most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it. In fact, more than 3.3 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point, are still alive today. However, a man is 2 to 3 times more likely to get prostate cancer if his father, brother or son had it. Talk to your doctor about having PSA and DRE levels checked.
PDS Biotechnology Corporation (PDSB) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company leverages its proprietary Versamune® platform, designed to activate and direct a potent immune response against disease-specific targets. One of PDS Biotech’s product candidates focuses on recurrent/metastatic cancer which is cancer that has returned after initial treatment or has spread to another part of the body, such as prostate cancer. Together with Versamune® based immunotherapies PDS01ADC works synergistically to promote a targeted T cell attack against these cancers. In its recent third quarter financial release the company provided investors with a clinical programs update which included highlights from Ravi A. Madan, M.D., Head, Prostate Cancer Clinical Research Section, Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health who had presented the rationale and design of recurrent prostate cancer trial combining Xtandi ® + PDS01ADC vs Xtandi ® alone during an oral presentation at the 12 th Annual Meeting of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society, this past October.
MEN-tal Health Matters – Practice Self-Care
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the prevalence of several mental disorders is lower in men than in women. However, other disorders are diagnosed at comparable rates for men and women or at higher rates for men, like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Men are also more likely to die by suicide than women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Men are also less likely to have received mental health treatment than women in the past year. 31% percent of men suffer depression in their lifetime and 9% percent of men have daily feelings of depression or anxiety. But only 1/4 talk to a mental health professional, and only 1/3 take medication. Pay attention to signs of depression and don’t be afraid to seek help.
electroCore, Inc. (ECOR) is a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company dedicated to improving patient outcomes through its non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) therapy platform. The company’s primary product, gammaCore™, is FDA-cleared for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache, as well as for the preventive treatment of migraine and cluster headache in adult patients. The company’s product Truvaga Plus Won the Men’s Health Magazine Tech Award. This product is designed to work with the body to balance the nervous system to feel calmer, think clearer, and sleep better and is intended for general health and wellness purposes.
