Midi Health to Offer Testosterone Therapy as Women's Demand Increases

Men have long turned to testosterone therapy to address a variety of problems as they age. But in recent years, women are increasingly doing the same and seeing the benefits of the hormone in addressing issues related to libido, muscle health, energy, and mood.

Midi Health, a virtual clinic focused on midlife women's health, is now expanding access to testosterone hormone therapy after what it says has been an increase in demand across its network of more than 200,000 patients in the US.

While testosterone is traditionally associated with men, it is present in women, although at lower levels. Still, as in men, the hormone plays an important role and tends to decrease with age.

Joanna Strober, CEO of Midi Health, said that while there is research to support women receiving testosterone therapy, “there's just been a lot of fear around this — unnecessary fear, like you're going to become a weightlifter, develop huge muscles, and your hair is going to fall out.”

Strober, a 2025 CNBC Changemaker, co-founded Midi Health in 2021 with a focus on helping women with midlife health issues, such as menopause and perimenopause, as well as longevity and good aging. This can often come in the form of hormone therapy, and Strober said she sees this push toward testosterone therapy as another extension of that, and another way to “give women options and see if it makes them feel good.”

“Our job is to help women optimize their health and give them the tools to do so,” Strober said. “Hormones are a key component of that.”

To date, there are no FDA-approved testosterone therapies for women in the U.S., and Strober said that has led many women to try unlicensed or male-focused formulations. In other parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, it has been prescribed to women for decades.

Midi Health is creating a formulation specifically for women, making it accessible through their doctors and covered by major insurers. It will initially be available in 12 states and the company plans a nationwide launch as individual state regulations allow.

The company hopes there will be demand. About a year ago, Midi Health issued fewer than 100 testosterone prescriptions per week as part of a pilot program. Now, as discussions about the treatment's success have increased on social media, prescriptions have increased almost tenfold.

Strober said that like other treatment options offered to women by Midi Health, “it really needs to be personalized; it's not a one-size-fits-all solution, so there's a huge opportunity to help create personalized healthcare solutions and offer them to people the way they want to receive healthcare.”

That approach has been key to Midi Health's growth, and the company has reached a revenue rate of more than $150 million and doubled its patient base this year to more than 20,000 a week, Strober said.

Like many companies in the women's health industry, Midi Health was founded to help underserved and overlooked women, with a specific focus on menopause and perimenopause care, something that affects hundreds of millions of women annually but has historically not had the focus as other women's health conditions.

Midi Health is not alone. Earlier this month, Hims & Hers Health launched a new women's health specialty that focuses on treatment plans for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. CNBC Changemaker Naomi Watts founded Stripes Beauty to focus on women's health issues. Halle Berry, who has been vocal about her own challenges with perimenopause, founded an online menopause-focused care clinic, Respin Health. In addition to that, the FDA held an expert panel on “Menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women” in July.

Strober said that in her opinion, “there's room for a lot of people in this space, because we're talking about something that impacts every woman in the world…this is not a small niche.” He also noted that Midi Health care is covered by insurance, unlike many other offerings.

As more women realize that health care is available, Midi Health has a big opportunity, one that Strober believes puts the company on the path to an eventual IPO. The company raised $50 million in a Series C round earlier this year, has more than $150 million in funding so far, and has investors including Emerson Collective, Google Ventures, and a group of female leaders including comedian Amy Schumer, soccer star Brandi Chastain, and fashion designer Tory Burch.

“What we're competing against is a lack of attention geared toward women, and I think that's getting worse, not better,” Strober said. “We're not a hormone company, we're not a weight loss company, we're a women's healthcare company, and I think women are increasingly looking for women-centered healthcare, and that's the gap we're filling.”