Here’s a stat worth sharing at your next dinner party: women are up to 75% more likely than men to have an adverse reaction to medication. Not because women’s bodies are more sensitive or complicated – but because, for too long, researchers simply haven’t included enough women in clinical trials.
It’s a gap that Nucleus Network, a leading clinical trial facilitator, wants to close – and this week, Women’s Health Week (7-11 September) feels like the perfect moment to talk about it.
The gap hiding in plain sight
Women remain under-represented in Phase 1 clinical trials – the first stage of testing new medicines in people. And that gap has real, everyday consequences. Because dosage often drives adverse drug reactions, trials need to capture how medicines affect women. When they don’t, researchers may lack crucial safety information by the time a medicine reaches pharmacy shelves.
The numbers back this up: fewer than 2% of Australian cancer clinical trials even record participants’ sex, making it incredibly difficult to determine whether treatments work as well or require different doses for women.
The good news is that progress is happening. Nucleus Network has helped bring 24 approved products to market through Phase 1 trials in women’s health alone, covering everything from contraception and endometriosis to menopause, hormone therapy, sexual dysfunction, breast and ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis. It’s part of a track record of more than 350 studies that have gone on to become approved treatments, 234 of them right here in Australia.
“Women are not small men”
Fronting the campaign is journalist, health advocate and Nucleus Network ambassador Shelly Horton, who’s encouraging women to “Do It For” the people they love by registering their interest in taking part.
“Women are not small men. Our bodies are different, our hormones are different and our health needs are different, yet for far too long women have been underrepresented in medical research,” Horton says. “I’ve spent years speaking publicly and campaigning in Parliament about the importance of advancing women’s health outcomes, and clinical trials are a very real way to turn that frustration into action.”
For Horton, it’s about legacy just as much as personal choice. “Taking part in a clinical trial is an opportunity to give back and contribute to research that could help improve the medicines and treatments our sisters, daughters, friends, colleagues and family will rely on in the future. There’s real purpose in knowing that putting your hand up today could contribute to better health for women tomorrow.”
So, what does taking part actually look like?
If the idea of a “clinical trial” sounds intimidating, the reality is a lot more approachable than you’d think. Nucleus Network specialises in Phase 1 trials, often with healthy volunteers taking part, supported the whole way through by experienced medical teams and strong ethical oversight – from your initial health screening to time spent at their purpose-built clinics in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or their sites in the UK and US.
Global CEO Teena Pisarev says getting more women involved isn’t just fairer – it makes for better medicine, full stop. “Our purpose is to advance medicine and improve lives – this means all lives. At the heart of each of our studies are the people who choose to participate, and we need more women,” Pisarev says.
“Every study we conduct is underpinned by rigorous clinical processes, experienced medical teams, strong ethical oversight and close participant monitoring, helping us generate the high-quality data needed to know how medicines will work on a vast range of bodies, sexes, conditions, cultural backgrounds, ages, and more.”
A small step that adds up to something big
What makes this a nice one to sit with during Women’s Health Week is that it’s not just another awareness campaign – it’s something you can actually do something about. Whether you’d take part for yourself, for someone you love, or just because it feels like a genuine way to give back, the invitation is simple: put your hand up, and help build the evidence future generations of women will benefit from.
Keen to find out more? You can register your interest via Nucleus Network’s website.
