BASEL, Switzerland, March 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myovant Sciences (NYSE: MYOV), a healthcare company focused on redefining care for women and for men, today announced the four recipients of its Forward for Health Equity grants. The grant program provides funding to nonprofit healthcare organizations with innovative projects focused on improving healthcare access, with an initial focus on reducing racial disparities in prostate cancer and uterine fibroids in the U.S. The recipients will receive up to $50,000 each.

“Now more than ever, it is critical to address inequities in healthcare – so we are incredibly excited to announce the inaugural recipients of our Forward for Health Equity grants,” said Jarrad Aguirre, M.D., Head of Corporate Strategy and Advocacy at Myovant Sciences, Inc. “The recipients have all proposed innovative initiatives that have great potential to address the unacceptable inequities that too many patients with prostate cancer and uterine fibroids face. We are proud to support these important organizations and build on our commitment to improving healthcare access and redefining care.”

The 2021 Forward for Health Equity grant recipients are:

Prostate Cancer:

• Emmanual Health Education, Inc. for “The Black Walnut: Sowing Roots for Health Equity and Health Access,” to promote prostate cancer screening and health education around The Black Walnut, a documentary film that examines barriers to care for Black men.
• University of California, San Francisco for “Leveraging Technology to Achieve Equity for Men with Prostate Cancer on Androgen Deprivation Therapy,” to develop and test a multilingual, digital personalized lifestyle program to improve care for men with advanced prostate cancer receiving androgen deprivation therapy.

Uterine Fibroids:

• The Center for Black Health & Equity for “S.I.P. and Share: Women Supporting Women,” to establish a culturally appropriate outreach initiative that addresses knowledge gaps around uterine fibroids, medical mistrust and bias, and access to healthcare.
• Boston Medical Center for “Center of Excellence for Patients with Uterine Fibroids in a Safety-Net Setting,” to create a Fibroid Center to provide multidisciplinary care and implement an innovative, community-partnered patient engagement model at Boston Medical Center.

“Prostate cancer and uterine fibroids disproportionately impact Black Americans, and inequities in healthcare access exacerbate these disparities,” said Reggie Ware, Chief Executive Officer of BlackDoctor.org and member of the grant review committee. “The recipients of the Forward for Health Equity grants have a demonstrated commitment to reducing racial disparities, and I look forward to seeing the impact they achieve in their communities through these innovative initiatives.”

Myovant Sciences launched the Forward for Health Equity grant program in September 2020 to reduce disparities in healthcare and support innovative projects focused on improving access to care. Applications were reviewed by a grant review committee of Myovant employees and external leaders, including Reggie Ware (BlackDoctor.org), Jessica Shepherd, M.D. (Baylor University Medical Center), and Kelvin Moses, M.D., Ph.D. (Vanderbilt University Medical Center). The committee chose grant recipients based on their potential to improve health equity, degree of innovation, and focus on healthcare access.

About Myovant Sciences 
Myovant Sciences aspires to redefine care for women and for men through purpose-driven science, empowering medicines, and transformative advocacy. We have one FDA-approved medicine, ORGOVYX™ (relugolix), for adult patients with advanced prostate cancer. Our lead product candidate, relugolix combination tablet (relugolix 40 mg, estradiol 1.0 mg, and norethindrone acetate 0.5 mg), is under regulatory review in Europe and the U.S. for women with uterine fibroids and is under development for women with endometriosis. We are also developing MVT-602, an oligopeptide kisspeptin-1 receptor agonist, which has completed a Phase 2a study for female infertility as part of assisted reproduction. Sumitovant Biopharma, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., is our majority shareholder. For more information, please visit our website at www.myovant.com. Follow @Myovant on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Investor Contact:
Ryan Crowe
Vice President, Investor Relations
Myovant Sciences, Inc.
+1 (650) 781-9106
investors@myovant.com

Media Contact
Albert Liao
Director, Corporate Communications
Myovant Sciences, Inc.
+1 (650) 410-3055
media@myovant.com

Source: Myovant Sciences, Inc.