"[We] are united by a single vision: help people live longer, healthier lives, through the power of genomics."
That's what Genomics founder and CEO Sir Peter Donnelly told me about his company in a recent interview. He further described Genomics as a company, driven by science, which "uses large-scale genetic information to develop innovative precision healthcare tools and to bring new understanding to drug discovery for partners across the healthcare, insurance, employer, and life sciences industries." The company, founded in 2014 with offices in Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, collaborates with what Sir Donnelly characterized as "some of the world's leading organizations" in an effort to help them "predict, prevent, treat, and cure disease using our proprietary algorithms and databases." The work Genomics does, he added, goes a long way towards "reducing the human and financial cost of critical diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes."
"We [at Genomics] believe genomics should be at the heart of every healthcare service around the world," Sir Donnelly said of his company's raison d'être. "[We believe] it will be the key to personalized healthcare of the future. We are a rapidly growing and expanding organization."
Sir Donnelly expounded on these sentiments, telling me he believes the potential impact of Genomics' science and technology to be profound and "enormous." A goal of his was to share his company's innovations with partners who would be willing to join Genomics on its mission to "help people live longer healthier lives, as soon as possible." Genomics, Sir Donnelly said, works with companies across industries such as healthcare and insurers in providing better care. Notably, Genomics works with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.
"We're helping drive new possibilities in health, healthcare, and drug discovery, transforming people's health and lives with the power of genomic prediction," Sir Donnelly said. "Our mission is to help everyone make smart, proactive decisions to live healthier lives -- making individuals co-pilots instead of passengers on their individual health journey."
This column has seen a fair amount of coverage over time at the intersection of disability, technology, and healthcare. The reason for this is obvious and simple: more than any other group, disabled people oftentimes are in need of the most healthcare to sustain themselves. As I have written about the modern miracle known as the internet being the basis for obtaining medication more accessibly through conduits such as Amazon Pharmacy, Sir Donnelly and Genomics are coming at accessibility at another angle by, as he told me in citing one example, working in clinical trials with the NHS to help people "match the right people to the right treatment, for better patient outcomes." Moreover, Sir Donnelly mentioned Genomics' Insights test. He described it as providing "genetic risk testing as a secure, end-to-end solution based on a simple saliva sample collection that can be taken at home" which tests for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, breast or prostate cancer, and more. Based on the tester's risk profile, he said, the person is given "actionable information about what to discuss with their doctor and give them helpful advice on setting diet, exercise, and other lifestyle goals." Especially to a disabled person, maybe someone with certain cognitive disabilities, this information is worth its weight in gold in helping them know what they need to discuss with their doctor(s). Likewise, that the Insights test uses one's smartphone means, for instance, results can be read using the system's accessibility software.
"Because our genetic risk scores combine information from millions of places in our DNA, they are largely uncorrelated with a family history of disease and with most clinical risk factors. Over 70% of people are at high risk for at least one of the conditions we assess," Sir Donnelly said. "In most cases, they will have no idea about this. Our test gives someone a chance to learn their particular risks, and for them and their healthcare professionals to take action to prevent that disease well before any symptoms become apparent."
When asked about feedback from Genomics' users, Sir Donnelly told me the company has been "lucky" to have received "great accolades" from partners and individuals. He pointed to a survey of MassMutual policyholders receiving the aforementioned Insights test, saying 76% found the information gleaned from the test valuable while 61% reported formulating an "improved impression" of their insurance company.
As to the future, Sir Donnelly believes the next 5-10 years will prove prosperous for genomics, helping it become the "gold-standard across the insurance, life sciences, and health services industries." His company, he believes, will stand "at the forefront" of the revolution.
"By giving individuals much more precise information about the particular health risks they face, they can take the right actions, at the right time, to help prevent disease entirely, or to catch ill health early -- when outcomes are much better," Sir Donnelly said. "We find people are frequently under the impression that they know what diseases they are at risk of, based on hereditary factors. Through advanced genomics and PRS technology, we can know so much more about an individual's DNA, and accurately make predictions about the potential future of their health. This puts patients in the driver's seat of their health journey."