Endometriosis: The $220 Billion Market Opportunity

Imagine living with an invisible chronic condition. Imagine visiting the doctor for years, only to be told that your pain is normal and that it is simply part of being a woman. This is the story of 190 million women and teens of reproductive age worldwide. One in ten women will face an endometriosis diagnosis, a disease that can cause chronic pelvic pain, menstrual pain, pain during sexual intercourse, infertility, digestive problems, fatigue, and emotional consequences such as anxiety and depression.

New research shows that endometriosis is not just a chronic inflammatory disease, but a neuro-inflammatory and systemic disease that affects different organs in the body. It occurs when endometrial-like tissue grows outside the uterus and responds to hormonal processes. This tissue becomes inflamed but has no way of leaving the body. It can grow in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, intestine, and bladder; it can also grow at extra-pelvic sites such as the diaphragm, lungs, and brain.

Despite the large burden in daily life activities, many women suffer in pain for years without a clear diagnosis. The average time for an endometriosis diagnosis is 7 to 10 years from the time of symptom onset. During that time, patients experience numerous emergency room visits and incorrect diagnoses, most commonly gastrointestinal conditions, leading to unnecessary treatments and costs.

There is no cure for endometriosis. Hormonal treatments work by regulating or suppressing estrogen production through oral contraceptive pills or gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists and antagonists, which may help relieve symptoms, but come with side effects. For the GnRH drugs, this includes bone density loss, elevated liver enzymes, and suicidal ideation¹. Because of this, these medications can only be used for a maximum of 12 months. For many young women, taking these medications means entering early menopause and facing its associated side effects. We believe no woman should ever be in that position.

Funding data reveal a significant disparity between endometriosis and other diseases. In 2024, the NIH allocated $28 million to endometriosis research. Crohn's disease (a chronic gastrointestinal condition) received $90 million in 2022. The United States has an estimated 690,000 patients living with Crohn's disease and 6.5 million with endometriosis ². These disparities are clear, and it is time to advocate for patients who have been overlooked for far too long.

Why has endometriosis been so understudied? Why is there such a large gap between the funding it receives and what other chronic diseases receive?

For decades, menstrual pain has been normalized, minimized, and stigmatized. For many women, their symptoms were dismissed as an exaggeration or labeled psychosomatic. Unlike other diseases, endometriosis has no blood biomarker. Its confirmed diagnosis is through invasive laparoscopic surgery or expert imaging for ovarian cysts and infiltrating lesions.

Many people ask us, why now? The answer is that science wasn't ready before, but now it is. The disease's mechanisms of action, which were not understood 20 years ago, have now been better studied and documented. Our recent research has identified that the stress axis, specifically the main receptor known as the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor (CRHR1), plays a fundamental role in inflammation, pain, and the development of endometriosis lesions¹. If we know this, why do we still treat endometriosis the same way? Because therapeutic development requires team effort, strong scientific evidence, and significant investment to fund clinical trials.

Jaydie Valles Research Associate and main laboratory technician for Sur180 Therapeutics at the Ponce Research Institute Labs in Ponce, PR.

Sur180 team research demonstrated that blocking the CRHR1 receptor with a non-hormonal oral medication can reduce pain, suppress inflammation within lesions, and reduce disease-associated adhesions, without compromising fertility, using an in vivo model of the disease. This has been published, peer-reviewed, and supported by NIH funding, which strengthens the credibility of the science behind this discovery.

The market of 190 million patients living with endometriosis remains underserved from a pharmacological standpoint. No approved oral treatment exists that addresses the disease rather than its symptoms, and that does not compromise fertility. This represents a significant market opportunity.

Women’s health represents a large, undercapitalized growth opportunity: women comprise 51% of the global population, influence 80% of healthcare spending decisions, and closing the women’s health gap could add at least $1 trillion to the global economy annually by 2040. Within this market, endometriosis treatments alone represent an estimated $180–$220 billion global opportunity, driven by high prevalence and substantial unmet clinical need³. The potential returns are equally compelling: research indicates that a $350 million investment in women’s health could generate $14 billion in value, a 40-fold return⁴, yet the sector captured only 6% of health technology venture capital in 2024 and 8% of NIH research grant funding in 2023⁵, creating a timely opportunity for investors to enter a high-impact market with significant room for growth.

Investing in women's health means investing in a field that is experiencing unprecedented growth. Investing in Sur180 Therapeutics, a company at the forefront of a new and validated approach to treating endometriosis, means positioning yourself at the moment when science, the market, medicine, and the need for new treatments align. Endometriosis has waited too long. The women who live with it have waited too long. And now is the moment for the capital that can accelerate a solution to finally step forward.

1 Annelyn Torres-Reveron, Jaydie M Valles Ortiz, Myrella L Cruz, Omar Velez-Lopez, Idhaliz Flores, Caroline B Appleyard, Antagonizing the corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 with an orally bioavailable drug reduces endometriosis pain and associated adhesions, Biology of Reproduction, Volume 115, Issue 2, August 2026, Pages 500–514, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioag107

2  Endometriosis Foundation of America. "Why January 25th Matters: Women's Health Research Day and the Fight for Endometriosis Funding." Endometriosis Foundation of America, January 25, 2026. https://www.endofound.org/why-january-25th-matters-womens-health-research-day-and-the-fight-for-endometriosis-funding

3  World Economic Forum & McKinsey Health Institute. Closing the Women's Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. January 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women%E2%80%99s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf

4 Women's Health Access Matters (WHAM). The Business Case for Accelerating Women's Health Investment. 2025. https://whamnow.org/investment-reports/ 

5  Stengel G. "New Report Calls for Investment Shift in Women's Health." Forbes. June 5, 2025. Reporting on: Accenture & Springboard Enterprises. 2025 State of Women's Health Report. https://www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2025/06/05/new-report-calls-for-investment-shift-in-womens-health/