Google X Senior Vice President Jeff Huber has been named as San Francisco-based Grail‘s CEO, which was formed by gene sequencing company Illumina. The ultimate goal is to master very early detection of cancer through blood testing.
In a phone interview, Huber shared that he believes his experience with Google, in different areas over 13 years, set him up to be very conscious of analytics and looking at specific data, which will be an asset to Grail in determining the efficacy of future clinical trials. And this is a personal transition for Huber as well.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
As he pointed out, a lot of times cancer isn’t detected until it’s too late, and he dealt with it directly in the past year, which influenced his decision to take on the job with Grail.
His wife, Laura, passed away just months ago after a battle with Stage IV colon cancer. Huber believes that if the diagnostics availability with Grail’s technology were already available, they would have caught it sooner and potentially saved her life.
Essentially, when a patient goes in for any kind of regular blood work, Grail’s “ultra-deep” sequencing technology would add the additional detection of early-stage cancer in asymptomatic patients. The goal is to catch the diagnosis in time to offer immunotherapy and negate the need for disruptive chemotherapy if possible.
“Jeff helped Google map the world, and he’ll help us map the molecular biology of the microscopic cancer DNA that might be circulating in our blood,” said Grail board chair and Illumina CEO Jay Flatley, according to Reuters.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Grail has received more than $100 million in Series A financing thus far. Illumina is the majority owner. Key investors include Bill Gates, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, as well as ARCH Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. Huber, although still three weeks from officially taking office as CEO, said he is projecting that the technology will be available for commercial use by around 2020.
Photo: Flickr user National Eye Institute
