GenomeSmart,
a Silicon Valley-based company developing a platform technology to
simplify and enable cost-effective and medically responsible broad use
of genetic testing in healthcare, today announced the general
availability of the company’s first product, GenomeBrain™. GenomeBrain
simplifies and speeds the pre-test process to under 10 minutes by
matching an individual’s relevant personal and medical history plus
ethnicity and age with national guidelines to recommended
medically-actionable genetic tests. Individuals and their clinicians can
then use the generated reports to determine a testing plan and
appropriate specialist referrals based on individual need.
“More than 10 million genetic tests were performed in the United States
in 2018, and this is just the beginning of an explosion in medicine to
utilize genetics to deliver on the promises of personalized medicine and
do a better job in treating patients with hereditary disease,” said
Sanjay Sathe, CEO and co-founder, GenomeSmart. “While the growing
testing volumes signal a positive change in attitudes toward the value
of genetics, we know that building the infrastructure for genetic
counselors, physicians and health systems to scale genetic testing is
what is needed to implement cost-effective and evidence-based
personalized medicine powered by genetics.”
GenomeBrain was developed using the expertise of genetic counselors from
leading hospital systems. The platform is launched with support for
hereditary cancer and reproductive genetic testing, with a broad
pipeline of additions across other disease areas including
cardiovascular health and pharmacogenomics soon to follow.
“GenomeBrain addresses the most significant pain point in genetic
medicine today- which is to reduce the load on genetic counselors and
experts, to risk-stratify patient populations and to map testing to
medical guidelines and insurance eligibility,” said Vandana Sathe,
co-founder and chief scientific officer. “Our personal experience and
research suggest significant gaps in genetic medicine are developing
that need to be addressed quickly. Scientific evidence and consumer
demand are pushing for genetic testing to be part of mainstream
medicine, and we want to provide the technology that enables that
reality, since by its very definition, genetics cannot be one size fits
all.”
GenomeBrain is patterned after the typical pre-test workflow with a goal
of automating manual tasks that can then free up clinician time for
patient care based on a trusted pre-visit triage. The machine-learning
engine leverages all available data sets including the individual’s
history input, medical guidelines databases and available test types to
instantly profile match the individual to available genetic tests. This
exercise takes into account millions of combinations in run time to
instantly produce the result: a personalized report with the
recommendation of the test type suggested for each individual. All
updates to the guidelines are continuously programmed into the code. The
platform is user friendly for both consumers and clinicians, is easily
implemented and is accessible through a desktop, tablet or smartphone.
The application and report delivery is highly configurable and can be
white-labeled for customers who want to incorporate GenomeBrain into
their existing workflows or create a streamlined customer experience.
GenomeBrain’s utility is not limited to use by genetic counselors and
healthcare providers. The platform can also be used by genetic testing
labs to match patient profiles to medical guidelines in order to
streamline and accelerate claims processing. Employers instituting
population health programs, which include genetic testing, can also
benefit from direct use of GenomeBrain’s consumer-friendly risk
assessment to help employees navigate this valuable benefit and support
healthy workforce initiatives. In addition, the education module
GenoLearn™provides valuable education for individuals on
genetic testing in general.
The vision for GenomeBrain came from the pairing of Vandana’s genetics
industry experience with Sanjay’s technology industry success. The
husband and wife wanted to combine their areas of expertise to ensure
genetics becomes a part of routine healthcare and is used to prevent
unnecessary pain, suffering and expense. “It occurred to us that the
innovation needed was to support genetic testing experts and healthcare
providers with machine learning to help match individuals with the most
relevant types of genetic tests to get them screened faster,” Sanjay
said. Sanjay previously founded the successful HR tech startup RiseSmart,
which was acquired by the $23 billion global HR services giant Randstad
for $100
million in 2015. RiseSmart’s outplacement solution leveraged
proprietary machine-learning technology to help match laid-off workers
with new jobs.
GenomeSmart is an angel-funded startup supported by a clinical
board of advisors that includes top genetics experts from the Mayo
Clinic, MD Anderson, Yale, Stanford, NYC Health, Boston, Columbia and
UCSF. The company, seeking to make meaningful improvements to the
healthcare ecosystem, has also enlisted a distinguished board of
business advisors including executives with experience at
GlaxoSmithKline, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Shield of California, Johns
Hopkins University and the American College of Preventive Medicine.
Most recently, the company added two senior industry leaders to its
executive team. Shannon Kieran, a board-certified genetic counselor and
an established leader in personalized genomics who has served in
leadership roles at Navigenics, Color Genomics, Genome Medical and
Thermo Fisher Scientific, has been named executive vice president and
will lead the company’s clinical vision. Kenny Wong, also a
board-certified genetic counselor and a former product leader from
Counsyl and Myriad Genetics, joins as vice president, products.
Resources for Media
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Photos of Vandana
Sathe, Sanjay
Sathe, Shannon
Kieran, Kenny
Wong and the GenomeSmart
team -
Video
overview of GenomeSmart
About GenomeSmart
GenomeSmart is on a mission to help people make better decisions about
their health through genomics. In May 2019, the company launched
GenomeBrain™, the first AI-based digital genetic risk assessment and
matching platform to address gaps in today’s pre-test genetic services
to ensure individuals get easy access to genetic testing needed for
their health. The affordable GenomeBrain solution is available to help
genetic counselors, physicians, hospital systems, genetic testing labs,
insurance companies, and corporations improve the effective use of
genetic testing to save lives, improve quality and reduce costs of
healthcare.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190521005157/en/