Saliva test, Hungry Gut™, will assist in provider recommendations with positive results pointing to diet, GLP-1 medication and/or intragastric balloons.
Menlo Park, Calif., March 30, 2023 — With forecasts predicting that obesity drug sales will quadruple in the next five years to $11B annually, it is crucial for providers to know which patients will react positively to GLP-1 medications before prescribing them. Phenomix Sciences (Phenomix), a precision medicine biotechnology company that brings data intelligence to the treatment of obesity, announces today the launch of its first therapy selection test, the My Phenome Hungry Gut test. This is a first-of-its-kind obesity test and will determine if a patient’s phenotype is Hungry Gut (Satiety), or feeling hungry shortly after eating a meal. If a patient is Hungry Gut phenotyped, providers are able to more precisely and accurately make a treatment plan which would include a diet intervention specific to Hungry Gut, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) medications, and intragastric balloons.
Phenomix Sciences is on a mission to conquer obesity through the science of phenotyping, the understanding of how genes combined with environmental and behavioral factors can inform obesity treatment plans. Through extensive research from Phenomix’s physician founders, Andres Acosta, M.D. Ph.D. and Michael Camilleri, M.D. D.Sc. of Mayo Clinic, they have found that obesity is not a single disease with a single treatment type, but a constellation of diseases requiring personalized treatments. The three types of obesity phenotypes in addition to Hungry Gut are Hungry Brain, Emotional Hunger and Slow Burn.
The company’s first test is addressing the Hungry Gut phenotype, which is caused by the lack of satiety due to the stomach moving the food out of the stomach faster than other phenotypes. Since variability between patients can be drastic, the Hungry Gut test is developed to predict how a patient will respond and allows physicians to choose a precise treatment plan for patients.
“This launch marks a turning point for the field of obesity. We have chosen to focus on bringing this test to market first because GLP-1 medications are costly to patients yet in such high demand. By prescribing medications to the right group of patients, we can
significantly reduce negative responses,” said Mark Bagnall, CEO of Phenomix Sciences. “Our initial launch of the test is to a small group of obesity medicine physicians who understand the different phenotypes described by Drs. Acosta and Camilleri and appropriately counsel patients on their treatment options.”
Phenomix Sciences is backed by Health2047, an innovation firm powered by the American Medical Association (AMA) with the goal to make a meaningful and measurable impact on healthcare by the AMA’s 200th anniversary in 2047. “The ability to make an impact on significant healthcare problems like obesity is exactly why the AMA launched Health 2047,” said James L. Madara, M.D., CEO of the AMA. “It is encouraging to see another one of the companies we founded achieve an important milestone and contribute to such a prevalent disease affecting nearly half of all Americans.”
The Hungry Gut Test will initially be rolled out to a select group of providers before a full roll-out later this year. If you are interested in offering the test to patients or learning more, visit www.phenomixsciences.com and fill out the interest form.
About Phenomix Sciences
Phenomix Sciences is a biotechnology pioneer on a mission to conquer obesity globally through the science of phenotyping, the understanding of how genes combined with environmental and behavioral factors can inform obesity treatment plans. Mayo Clinic physicians, scientists, and researchers, Andres Acosta, M.D. Ph.D., and Michael Camilleri, M.D. D.Sc., founded the company under the belief that the key to understanding obesity is unprecedented access to its clinical and molecular information throughout all stages and phenotypes of the disease. Phenomix leverages data intelligence for yielding better accuracy in predicting individual patient response to specific weight loss interventions and reducing the variability in weight loss results for patients. For more information, please visit www.phenomixsciences.com.
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