Perelel Pledges $10 Million To Improve Women's Health Research, Advance Health Equity And Close the Medical Research Gap

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Feb 20, 2024, 10:55 ET

The all-female, doctor-led team is committed to closing the divide on women's reproductive health research and improving access to nutritional support for all

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Perelel, the first and only female OB/GYN-founded vitamin company offering clean, targeted nutrition for distinct stages of a woman's hormonal journey, today pledges $10 million to Magee-Womens Research Institute and Good+ Foundation, to fund women's health research and address longstanding gaps in maternal healthcare.

Perelel Pledges $10 Million To Improve Women's Health Research, Advance Health Equity And Close the Medical Research Gap

This pledge furthers Perelel's mission of building a world with healthier, more supported women. The $10 million will be distributed as both in-kind product donations and funding grants through 2027 focused on advancing women's reproductive health. Magee-Womens Research Institute is the largest U.S. research foundation focused exclusively on women's health, reproductive biology, and infant research and care; and founded by Jessica Seinfeld, Good+Foundation is a national nonprofit working to dismantle multi-generational poverty by pairing tangible goods with innovative services for under-resourced individuals.

Women's health is a deeply underfunded and under-researched field of medicine. A majority of what we understand about "health" today is based on clinical trials performed on white men. In 1977, the FDA excluded women of "childbearing potential" from clinical research studies for 20 years. Today, we continue to endure the consequential impacts as our health solutions remain one-size-fits-all, adding to long-standing racial disparities and inequities in health. In 1993 Congress passed the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act, which required the agency to include more women and people of color in their research studies. But participation by minorities has not increased much at all.

Born from the belief that all women deserve targeted, trusted, and timely nutritional support, Perelel has, since launch, advocated for clinical research that considers the entirety of women's bodies—fueling a higher standard of care across the entire industry and continues to take meaningful action to raise awareness about this need.

"We recognize how wildly complex women's bodies are—bodies that have historically been oversimplified, objectified, and shamefully under-researched in medicine. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as "12 essential nutrients." In founding Perelel, we hope to shine a light on how dynamic our bodies are by supporting them with targeted solutions made by the doctors and experts who know best. Core to what we stand for is the need to keep fighting for our fundamental rights and help close the women's health research gap and improve body literacy," said Alex Taylor, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Perelel and mother of two.

"As the only female OB/GYN-founded women's vitamin company, Perelel is committed to ensuring that all women have access to medically backed care. This is why we are devoted to furthering women's research in partnership with Magee-Womens Research Institute and creating more equity in the way underserved communities receive critical prenatal micronutrients that would otherwise be inaccessible thanks to Good+Foundation," said Victoria Thain Gioia, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Perelel and soon-to-be mother of four.

The Commonwealth Fund reports that one of the consequences of the lack of understanding of how disease impacts women is that clinicians are more likely to dismiss women's health concerns, or attribute their pain to emotional distress. This divide is even larger among women of color.

This pledge comes at a time of intensified focus on women's health as efforts start to reach new levels, including the White House, after President Joe Biden announced the first-ever initiative on Women's Health Research in 2023.

"It is critical that there is more in-depth medical research done to support women at every hormonal life stage. Perelel has committed to a cash donation to further advance research into women's reproductive health and to ensure that this research is made more accessible to doctors everywhere," said Michael Annichine, CEO at Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation.

This month, Perelel announced its Series A to continue raising the standard for the prenatal industry and women's reproductive care, provided a total of $2.5 million in product donations since launch to underserved communities through its 1:1 giveback initiative, and partnered with The HOPE Project, the largest research initiative led-to-date in part by Stanford University School of Medicine, to uncover some of the causes of pregnancy loss.

To amplify the urgency of advancing health equity, Perelel will activate its community through an educational campaign, along with a call to action to join the #PerelelPledge and donate to mageewomens.org/perelelpledge. And, because the realities of the women's health gap go largely ignored by media outlets and newspapers— Perelel decided to create its own. Spotlighting need-to-know statistics and the very real consequences of our healthcare disparities, the "Perelel Press" newspaper will be delivered alongside "Fund Women's Health" collateral to brand advocates, customers, and media outlets.

For more information about Perelel please visit www.perelel.com/pages/our-impact.

About Perelel
Perelel is the first and only female OB/GYN-founded vitamin company offering clean, targeted nutrition for distinct stages of women's hormonal journeys. In 2018, Victoria Thain Gioia and Alex Taylor, both pregnant, found themselves navigating the unregulated world of prenatals. Their paths to parenthood were marked by confusion, frustration, and loss (Victoria endured four miscarriages and is now pregnant with her fourth child). The realization about how incredibly complex women's bodies are and yet how overly reductive and simple most of the products on the market were, led to a search for superior solutions. The lack of information on what to consume during pregnancy and when to do so – along with a lack of industry regulations, inspired them to introduce a more precise and transparent approach to prenatal vitamins. Still, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not hold vitamins to the same standards as conventional foods or drugs, so manufacturers are responsible for handling safety testing, labeling, and quality standards themselves. This leaves consumers vulnerable to misinformation, predatory marketing, and a lack of control over their bodies. Launched in 2020 along with Medical Co-Founder Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, the company includes a line of 19 individual skus not including bundles with a focus on targeted nutrition for women at various hormonal life stages including prenatal, postpartum care, and general women's wellness. Each formula is meticulously developed in collaboration with a panel of certified OB/GYNs and multidisciplinary women's health experts, and consciously made to support women through key stages of their hormonal journey.

About Magee-Womens Research Institute
With more than 300 world–class scientists and staff working in seven areas of research, Magee-Womens Research Institute is the largest independent U.S. research institute focused solely on women's health research and reproductive biology. We are making groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of cancer, heart disease, fertility, HIV, pregnancy and more. We are dedicated to a better, healthier world in which women's health obtains the scientific prominence and cultural status it deserves. Visit mageewomens.org for more information.

About Good+Foundation
Good+Foundation is a leading national non-profit that works to dismantle multi-generational poverty by pairing tangible goods with innovative services for under-resourced fathers, mothers, and caregivers, creating an upward trajectory for the whole family. The organization partners intensively with a vetted network of social service programs to pair goods – such as cribs, car seats, and diapers – with counseling, employment assistance, co-parenting classes, and more. With operations in New York City and Los Angeles, Good+Foundation has provided more than $112 million in essential goods since 2001. In recent years, Good+Foundation has added Family Cash Grants to its in-kind donation model, totaling more than $1.1 million in cash assistance to date. Visit goodplusfoundation.org for more information.

Contact: Catherine Cuello-Fuente at [email protected]

SOURCE Perelel