Small Viennese pharmaceutical company is shaking up the women’s health market

Well-known products include: Menogynial against hot flashes or Hydrosanta against vaginal dryness. “Vaginal dryness is a huge issue that causes great suffering for many women,” says Hambrusch. Not only women during menopause are affected; a decrease in estrogen also occurs in other phases of life.

The competition in the growing market is still manageable. Behind the brand “Vagisan” about the German medium-sized company Dr. August Wolffwhich also includes Linola. In the previous year, sales amounted to 390 million euros.

Started with contraceptives

Gynial was founded in Vienna in 2007 by three friends. At a time when women’s health was just an appendage in the product portfolio of big pharmaceutical companies. “We saw that there was a great need here and quickly took up the special topic,” says Hambrusch. It started with a contraceptive (pill), which quickly rose to number 1 on the market. Later, the large area of ​​women’s health in general was added, from the desire to have children to pregnancy, babyhood and menopause.

Female Leadership

The expansion into Switzerland took place in 2014. Today Gynial employs 35 people in both countries. Of the 23 employees in Austria, 20 are women, the company boss proudly reports. In the previous year, sales of 7.7 million euros were achieved in this country.

How can a small company compete in this market against large corporations? Through the personal approach in the ordinations. “Ninety-eight percent of gynecologists know us. We maintain regular contact and provide them with advice, something that fewer and fewer providers are doing,” says Hambrusch.

Online orders

Because the topic of vaginal dryness or hot flashes is still associated with shame, many women also order the preparations online – for example in their own online shop or through sales partners such as Shop–Pharmacy. Most products are freely available as dietary supplements, but there are also prescription medical products such as pills or contraceptive coils. The preparations are produced in Germany or Italy.

Market is far from saturated

The market is far from saturated, also because menopause has affected women for many years. “We want to expand the area significantly, for example with the topics of vaginal thrush or bladder health,” says the Gynial boss. Hambrusch does not accept criticism that pharmaceutical companies declare women’s natural aging process to be a disease. “Menopause is normal and does not have to be stressful. But if they are, it’s important that women talk about it, otherwise the problems will become greater.”