Myovant Sciences and HealthyWomen Launch Storytelling Initiative to Elevate Conversations About Menstrual Health

• Initiative to spotlight diverse, personal stories about menstruation in partnership with storytelling nonprofit The Moth 
• HealthyWomen joins Female Forward Together, a cross-sector coalition committed to advancing women's health
• Information on how to participate available on FemaleForwardTogether.com

BASEL, Switzerland and RED BANK, N.J., April 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myovant Sciences MYOV, a healthcare company focused on developing innovative treatments for women's health and prostate cancer, and HealthyWomen, the nation's leading independent, nonprofit health information source for women, today announced a new initiative to elevate conversations about menstrual health by sharing diverse, personal stories of real-life impact of menstrual stigma and symptoms. The program will be supported by The Moth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building empathy in the world through the art and craft of true, personal storytelling. 

As part of the initiative, HealthyWomen joins Evidation Health, Flo Health, Myovant, and PERIOD in the Female Forward Together coalition, which combines expertise in healthcare, research, data science, digital health, and advocacy. 

TWEET THIS: "Storytelling is a powerful change agent and we are delighted to partner with HealthyWomen on this important initiative to normalize conversations about menstruation," said Lynn Seely, M.D., chief executive officer of Myovant. "On behalf of Female Forward Together, we also warmly welcome HealthyWomen with its unique expertise in health communications to the coalition." 

Results from a large-scale, digital insights survey conducted by founding coalition members Evidation Health and Myovant showed that menstrual stigma is pervasive. Across all demographic groups, female and male respondents reported stigma around menstruation in society today. Only six in 10 female respondents and half of male respondents reported receiving adequate education about menstruation. Furthermore, 70% of all respondents reported not feeling comfortable talking about menstruation with a colleague, with similar findings across audiences. 

"For decades, we have made it our mission at HealthyWomen to educate our audience about important, timely health topics, and a significant part of our efforts has included sharing women's personal stories," said Beth Battaglino, R.N., chief executive officer of HealthyWomen. "We launched the first online site for women's health, and we understand the power of communication, specifically how digital platforms continue to educate, inspire and engage women on health topics they may feel embarrassed to speak about. We are thrilled to join the Female Forward Together coalition and build upon and expand information and needed resources in women's health."

The initiative aims to shed light on the impact of menstrual stigma and symptoms by sharing women's lived experiences. Myovant and HealthyWomen have partnered with The Moth to host a storytelling workshop for participating women. Those interested in sharing their stories are encouraged to visit FemaleForwardTogether.com for more information about how to apply. 

About Myovant Sciences 
Myovant Sciences aspires to be the leading healthcare company focused on innovative treatments for women's health and prostate cancer. The company's lead product candidate is relugolix, a once-daily, oral GnRH receptor antagonist. The company has three late-stage clinical programs for relugolix in uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and prostate cancer. The company is also developing MVT-602, an oligopeptide kisspeptin-1 receptor agonist, that has completed a Phase 2a study for the treatment of female infertility as part of assisted reproduction. Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, the originator of relugolix, previously granted the company a worldwide license to develop and commercialize relugolix (excluding Japan and certain other Asian countries) and an exclusive license to develop and commercialize MVT-602 in all countries worldwide. Sumitovant Biopharma, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., is the majority shareholder of Myovant. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.myovant.com. Follow @Myovant on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About HealthyWomen
HealthyWomen is the nation's leading independent, nonprofit health information source for women. Our mission is to educate, engage and inspire women, ages 35 to 64, to make informed health choices to live and age well. We engage with health care professionals, patient advocates, policy makers, NGOs and corporate partners to better inform our educational resources so that we can provide our audience with the most reliable, medically-accurate, balanced health information. For 30+ years, millions of women have turned to HealthyWomen for answers to their most personal health care questions.

Nothing is more important to our health than access to competent and affordable care and the safety of our medications and health care delivery practices. HealthyWomen works to educate women about health policy issues in these and other areas. We recognize the importance of clinical trials to improving women's health and we support women's health research, particularly to account for sex difference in research results. HealthyWomen. HealthyWomen advocates on behalf of women to ensure that women's health is a primary focus of policy makers and advocacy groups. Our investment in developing science-based information and our effort to incorporate perspectives reflected by advances in research and technology will further our mission to provide women with relevant and accurate health resources. For more information, please visit www.HealthyWomen.org Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Myovant Sciences Media Contact:
Albert Liao 
Director, Corporate Communications
Myovant Sciences, Inc. 
media@myovant.com

HealthyWomen Media Contact:
Stefanie Williamson
HealthyWomen
stefanie@healthywomen.org