AltheaDx: The Behemoth of Precision Medicine

The buzz de jour in the healthcare space is “precision medicine.” It promises a shift in the direction care delivery is heading abating the need for guesswork, variable diagnoses, and treatment strategies based on trial-and-error. The evidence-based approach to medicine leverages data from various sources that provide details of an individual patient. By augmenting the process for personalized treatment, physicians can attenuate many of the inefficiencies in patient management. The one size fits all approach coupled with unnecessary treatments both have monetary and quality-of-care ramifications. In this context, the increasing adoption of genetically-guided therapies presents an excellent opportunity for the pharmaceutical and biotech companies to capture the promising market of personalized medicine. However, aside from a few success stories, personalized therapeutics has witnessed a limited impact so far. While other diagnostics companies have adopted a wait and watch strategy, with selective investment in personalized medicine, one name that is making the headlines is the San Diego, California based firm, AltheaDx.

“It becomes quite easy for companies to go out and spin codes to create opportunity, but what makes our story different is innovative programming, and intelligent algorithms that translate genetic data into medication management recommendations,” says Dr. Jorge Garces, President and Chief Executive Officer of AltheaDx. The firm helps physicians, managed care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and other healthcare entities to use precision medicine for improving their decision-making skills. The firm’s acumen to provide precision medicine in-line with clinical utility standards differentiates the company from other established players.

The molecular diagnostics company specializes in the field of pharmacogenetics and assists physicians to improve patient care with precision medicine. This evidence-based approach obliterates the trial-and-error practicing methods which are known to produce a higher rate of adverse events or treatment failures. Furthermore, the unreasonable cost of trial-and-error methods makes precision medicine an imperative choice for the targeted therapies. Moreover, the key to the firm’s technical portfolio is that it integrates genetic analysis and data analytics.

“This is an essential combination, as it enables us to monitor the interaction between a patient’s genetic make-up with other factors including diet, age, drug regimens, smoking and alcohol to name a few,” asserts Dr. Andrew A. Lukowiak, Chief Operating Officer.

Clinical Test Portfolio

In the clinical test regimen, the firm has two distinct test portfolios; one is the NeuroIDgenetix test, and the other is the CardioIDgenetix test. These test portfolios enable physicians to find the aptest drug that suits the patients by analyzing their genetics, drug regimen, and other lifestyle factors. In this procedure, the physician initially collects a biological sample from the patients using a simple cheek swab and then, subjects it for laboratory analysis. These genetic results along with detailed information on the current medications taken by the patient are then analyzed via a proprietary IDgenetix algorithm to determine the most appropriate line of therapy for a given illness. Therapeutic recommendations are then delivered to physicians through web portals.

The Significance of IDgenetix Testing over Standard of Care

Garces proudly mentions that the firm’s IDgenetix test has been clinically validated and that its clinical utility was demostrated by a randomized controlled trial consisting of 685 patients under treatment for depression and anxiety. The findings from that study were recently published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The study was conducted at 20 clinical sites throughout the U.S. During the trial process, patients were monitored for three months, and their health conditions were examined continually. The patients in the experimental IDgenetix group diagnosed with anxiety experienced a remarkable improvement in their symptoms after 12 weeks and showed a higher response rate as compared to the standard of care control group. “The results were quite astonishing for us as patients with severe depression achieved a doubling in response rate and 170 percent improvement in remission rates,” adds Garces. “No other player in the market can render this gamut of benefits for patients.” Furthermore, AltheaDx provides genetic reports to physicians to assists them in analyzing patients with heart attacks, stroke, other neuropsychiatric conditions, and chronic pain. The firm also monitors the patients’ diet, alcohol consumption, smoking status, gender, and age to further enrich the genetic findings.

A Peek at their Journey

Over the years, AltheaDx has witnessed exponential growth during its journey.

The firm was launched in 2008 but began to focus on precision medicine from 2013 with the implementation of the IDgenetix algorithm. The firm’s commitment to precision medicine has empowered physicians to leverage the best in market tools in the field of precision care.

Encouraging Employee Engagement

“We empower our employees to make decisions and always seek continuous improvement. We are proud of our competent pool of employees who are committed to rendering best-in-class tools for our expanding client base,” adds Garces. The proud team delivers the most suitable technology and algorithms to physicians and healthcare providers. Since its genesis, the firm has successfully tested over 100,000 patients in its clinical portfolio, and the genetic data stored and analyzed is vast. To reduce the burgeoning data, AltheaDx streamlines its algorithm every three months. “An algorithmic tool is our way of bringing forward the best in precision medicine to the market. We are constantly expanding our commercial portfolio,” adds Lukowiak.

The Proliferation of Technology in Healthcare

A veteran in the space, Garces has witnessed how precision medicine and bioinformatics have evolved in the last few years. These developments help physicians to improve patient care as they get a better approach to understand precision medicine. To render the best-in-market tool that is effective for the physicians and help them in the treatment process, the firm adopts an algorithm-based approach to medication management that attenuates the complexities of healthcare providers. The algorithm helps answer the question “how do I find the best drug, at the right dose, for this individual patient, the first time?” adds Garces.

"The firm’s acumen to provide precision medicine in-line with clinical utility standards differentiates the company from other established players in the same sphere"

The Vision Ahead

Drs. Garces and Lukowiak delineate the importance that genomic data has played in precision medicine and show how DNA sequencing and subsequent data analysis has evolved over the last decade exceeding the speed of microprocessor technology. With data analytics being the key to implementing genomic data, sequencing of genomes today can be done at a very minimal price and fast. Also, the proliferation of data and variables, the vital role of clinical medicine and precision management care have mounted to new heights over the last few years. Garces concludes, “We have been a trendsetter in the industry, and we envision doing the same in the future by revolutionizing precision medicine. AltheaDx will continue to be a driving force in this industry.”