MYLILY Brings Insured Online Menopause Care to Japan
Japanese startup MYLILY runs an online clinic for menopause covered by national insurance, with female OB-GYNs, same-day drug delivery and use by about 50 large employers.
MYLILY, a Japanese startup, operates an online clinic platform specialized in menopause care that is covered by public health insurance. Users pick a female OB-GYN from their smartphone, talk with her for about 15 minutes and choose a treatment together. Consultations run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and medication can arrive at home as early as the same day.
The company says it holds its own wholesale function and buys drugs directly from pharmaceutical makers, which it credits for stable supply and low prices. It also uses data from more than 40,000 consultations to support doctors who are not menopause specialists in treating patients.
Results and business model
According to the company, 80% of users report a positive change in their condition within three months, with some saying they were able to return to work. About 50 large companies have already adopted the service as an employee benefit. Anonymized, statistical data is also offered to pharmaceutical, food and consumer goods companies targeting women in their 40s and 50s, a move meant to expand the menopause market.
Why the market is getting attention
Japan is thought to have about 17 million women in menopause. The government's first economic and fiscal policy guidelines under the Takaichi administration, the 2026 "Honebuto" policy, explicitly calls for promoting medical care for this generation. A major drugmaker is also reported to have a new menopause drug under review in Japan, with a new treatment option expected as early as 2027.
The gap in care is large. Menopausal symptoms are said to number 200 to 300, and about 600,000 people leave their careers because of them, an economic loss estimated at 1.9 trillion yen. Yet only about one in ten affected women reaches medical care, and searches of five years for a clinic are not unusual.
The root cause is structural: low reimbursement and long consultations discourage doctors, and only an estimated 0.4% of physicians know menopause care well. MYLILY aims to close that gap, and it presented at the Monthly Pitch event for early-stage startups and investors.
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