| As someone who has reported on cancer research for some years, I’ve long known that cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, thanks to vaccination and early screening. Yet, I must confess I’ve never received a screening for HPV, the human papillomavirus that’s the primary cause of cervical cancer. The thought of a Pap smear makes me squirm. To get the traditional cervical test, a women lies on her back with her feet in stirrups. The gynecologist uses a speculum to see the cervix, which is then scraped or swabbed to collect tissue. I spoke with Pui-Wah Choi, founder of WomenX Biotech, at Women’s Health in Focus, the first summit of its kind in Hong Kong. She said conversations with friends and family who were hesitant to undergo the procedure inspired her to create a non-invasive test for HPV. This invention, PadX, takes the form of a familiar household item: a menstrual pad. Choi, who studied biomarkers doing research at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, knew the key was to find the right liquid. Menstrual blood fits the bill: It passes through the cervix every month, bringing with it both cervical cells and HPV. PadX looks like a disposable sanitary pad with a testing strip sewn into it. Women wear the pad for a few hours while their period flow is the heaviest, then mail it to a lab in the sealed bag provided in the kit. In a local study, the test showed accuracy on par with a Pap smear, Choi told me. Since launching earlier this year, Choi said WomenX has sold more than 1,000 kits through pharmacies and partnerships with corporations and nonprofit organizations in Hong Kong. Women’s health advocates have cheered advancements that make HPV tests less invasive. Last year, Becton, Dickinson and Company and Roche Molecular Systems both launched HPV tests that women can self-administer at doctors’ offices. Another Hong Kong startup sells a urine test designed for at-home sample collection. WomenX is now working to apply for product registration in mainland China, with its sights on Southeast Asia and Africa, where cervical cancer remains a major cause of death for women. The privacy that PadX offers can alleviate religious concerns that some women in those regions may have about exposing their bodies to medical workers, Choi said. “HPV is a massive global problem, hugely stigmatized as a sexually transmissible disease,” said Maaike Steinebach, the organizer of Women’s Health in Focus. But, she added, “solutions are coming – from vaccine to testing to treatment.” Beyond HPV, Choi sees menstrual blood as a treasure trove that could be used to test for everything from endometriosis to menopause hormones. That puts WomenX on the same path as a small group of firms globally aiming to corral resources and drive innovation for women’s health, an already-under-invested area that faces the threat of funding cuts in the US. “Ultimately, we want to make medicine more accessible, to bring more people back into the medical system,” Choi said. — Amber Tong | 
