Biotechnology company Viome Life Sciences will be expanding its development of direct-to-consumer diagnostic tests and wellness products after receiving $67 million in series C funding, the startup announced Tuesday.
Bellevue, Washington-based Viome sells at-home testing and health products to address chronic diseases, cancer and aging. This includes its gut microbiome test and its human gene expression test. It also recently launched a diagnostic test for oral and throat cancer called CancerDetect, which received Breakthrough Device Designation by the Food and Drug Administration in May 2021.
“Viome Life Sciences is singularly focused on empowering consumers to take control of their health through at-home testing and personalized health products,” said founder and CEO Naveen Jain in an email.
The funding was led by Bold Capital Group, which provided the money because of the company’s work in detecting chronic diseases early on, said Teymour Boutros-Ghali, managing partner of the firm.
“As long-standing supporters of Viome, we have always believed deeply in Viome’s mission to identify the root causes of chronic disease by honoring each person’s biochemical individuality,” Boutros-Ghali said in the news release. “They have made tremendous strides since our initial investment, and we are proud to support Viome in its mission to provide democratized access to personalized, precision nutrition.”
Other investors of the company include Khosla Ventures, WestRiver Group and Glico. In total, Viome has raised more than $150 million.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
With this round of funding, Viome will work to create new tests and wellness products for oral and skin care, Jain said.
“Viome’s unique approach and unparalleled insight into the human microbiome and its interaction with the human host have helped nearly half a million individuals better understand how to take control of their health and address many underlying causes of inflammation and microbial imbalance, both of which science continues to link to the onset of the chronic disease strongly,” he declared. “With this funding, our goal is to continue increasing this number and to bring Viome’s products to new markets and consumers.”
Viome will also expand its line of tests for the early detection of life-threatening chronic diseases and cancer, like the CancerDetect product, Jain said. CancerDetect differs from other cancer tests from companies like Grail and Exact Sciences because it takes a saliva sample that tests for RNA instead of a blood sample that tests for DNA, said Dr. Guru Banavar, Viome chief technology officer, in a previous interview. The company is considering developing tests for colorectal cancer and other gastrointestinal cancers in the future, Banavar said.
While Jain did not name any competitors, other at-home testing companies include Cue, LetsGetChecked and Everlywell.
Photo credit: David Hecker, Getty Images
