“Women’s health hasn’t been held back by lack of demand, but by lack of solutions grounded in real biology. Once we stop underestimating the market and start funding science, the entire field will accelerate.” Maria Teresa Perez Zaballos

As Paris rises as a European hub for health innovation, women’s health is finally stepping into a long-overdue moment of momentum. For Maria Teresa Pérez Zaballos, CEO of Endogene.bio, the shift is clear: after years of superficial “FemTech” solutions, the sector is at last moving toward serious, biologically grounded innovation.

For decades, the field was dominated by pink-washed products built on weak assumptions. But that phase is fading. “We’re finally seeing research that reflects the biological complexity of women’s health,” María Teresa explains. “When solutions are grounded in real mechanisms, the low-evidence ideas naturally fall away.” The transformation is particularly visible in endometriosis, a condition affecting one in ten women and costing Europe over €200B each year, yet historically neglected. A lack of biological understanding led to repeated therapeutic failures and cautious pharma pipelines. Social invisibility made things worse: menstrual pain was minimised, symptoms were overlooked, and the disease was underestimated.

But today, things are shifting fast. “In the last five years, we’ve generated more insight than in the previous few decades,” she says. “It feels like oncology right before its breakthroughs, the science is finally ready.” Still, scientific progress needs capital and this is where France remains hesitant. Despite strong economic potential, women’s health is often perceived as niche. Investors demand certainty they never require from early-stage AI or deeptech startups. “When it comes to women’s health, many VCs suddenly move into zero-risk mode,” María Teresa notes. Yet the opportunity is enormous: even a targeted treatment for a fraction of endometriosis patients could reach multibillion-euro potential. Another barrier is the noisy landscape of preventive health, where unregulated supplements and wellness trends overshadow evidence-based interventions. “What truly improves health is simple and proven: movement, nutrition, and early medical care,” she says. “Prevention becomes credible only when it’s regulated and backed by real data.”

Despite these challenges, France is generating genuine breakthroughs: from Sonio and Matricis.ai in imaging to Womed in uterine therapeutics and organisations like FemTech France are helping bring the sector into the spotlight. For María Teresa, one myth above all must disappear: “Women’s health hasn’t been held back by lack of demand it’s been held back by lack of adequate solutions.”

As Paris continues to merge biotech, AI, and clinical innovation, women’s health stands not as a niche vertical but as one of the most promising frontiers of modern healthcare. And 2026 may well be the year Europe proves it.

‍