WAPO and Homeostasis VC: putting patients in the room
Most of us have had a version of the same experience. A treatment that works well in one country is unavailable in another. A diagnosis that took years, and a hormone replacement regime that approximates the body’s rhythm without ever quite matching it.
These are not gaps in the science. These are market gaps. Great science exists, but far too often, the mechanisms to translate that technology into widely available products and therapies are lacking.
That is why WAPO is announcing our mutual endorsement with Homeostasis VC, a patient-led venture fund investing in hormone health. Its first fund is dedicated entirely to adrenal and pituitary disease.
Why this fits our alliance
The pituitary and adrenal axis is one system, and progress rarely stays inside a single diagnosis. Earlier detection, more reliable hormone profiling, better ways to replicate natural rhythms: these travel across indications and across communities.
What WAPO adds is reach, and something harder to buy: a perspective on how differently these conditions are lived. Across our member organisations we see the variation in access to medication, in emergency protocols, in what a patient can reasonably expect from their health system. Innovation designed around one healthcare system does not arrive at the patient in most of the world.
WAPO will bring member-driven patient input to sharpen new technologies. Homeostasis VC will bring early sight of what is coming through the pipeline. In practice, the questions we send round will reach people in a position to actually engage with the answers.
Muriël, member of the board WAPO:
“Through WAPO, patient voices from countries like India and Panama become part of a powerful global conversation. This collaboration brings greater visibility to pituitary and adrenal disorders while helping communities learn, advocate and grow together.”
Adriaan, founder of Homeostasis VC:
“Most innovation in this space dies between the lab and the clinic. Not because the science fails, but because nobody funds the unglamorous middle. That gap is where we work. I started Homeostasis VC as a parent, not as an investor. What I learned quickly is that the people who understand these conditions best are rarely in the room when decisions get made about them. Partnering with WAPO puts them there.”
