Oral Genome, a leader in salivary testing and oral-systemic health innovation, has announced new data showing its device achieves over 90% accuracy in detecting oral disease, including both periodontal disease and cavities. In a 2024 validation study, the Oral Genome device demonstrated:
Sensitivity (ability to detect disease): 89.7%
Specificity (ability to confirm health): 95%
Overall Accuracy (combined sensitivity & specificity): 92.4%
“These results confirm what we’ve been building toward – a simple, rapid, and highly reliable test that empowers both providers and patients with insights in under 15 minutes,” said Dr. Tina Saw, CEO and Founder of Oral Genome. “By integrating salivary testing with smartphones, we’re making oral health prevention more accessible, affordable, and scalable.”
Oral Genome’s saliva-based test eliminates the need for lab processing or long turnaround times. Patients simply provide a saliva sample, snap a photo with their smartphone, and receive a personalized oral health report.
“This technology is changing how we think about prevention,” said Kelsey Swiggett, Director of Partnerships at Oral Genome. “We’re actively collaborating with dental groups, medical systems, and research institutions that share our mission to make predictive, preventive care a reality for every community. The data speaks for itself—now is the time to join us in scaling this innovation and shaping the future of oral-systemic health.”
This breakthrough has the potential to transform preventive care by enabling earlier detection, improving patient engagement, and supporting value-based care models for dental and medical payers.
For more information visit Oral Genome’s website or contact [email protected].
Vega Health, a healthcare startup that seeks to help healthcare organizations achieve measurable value from AI, has launched, fueled by seed funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a press release. Vega curates a marketplace of best-in-class healthcare AI solutions proven safe and effective in real-world settings, then partners with health systems to implement those solutions in their local environments and monitor performance objectively, the release noted. It also works with leading health systems and innovators to commercialize effective AI solutions across the healthcare ecosystem.
Dr. Mark Sendak, Vega Health co-founder and CEO, previously served as the population health and data science lead for the Duke Institute for Health Innovation and is the co-founder of the Health AI Partnership, a learning collaborative advancing responsible AI adoption. He explained in the release what led to the launch of Vega Health.
“During my time at Duke, I saw too many impactful AI solutions remain siloed in the sites they were created. I saw how difficult it was for health systems to adapt and implement effective solutions, even if those solutions worked elsewhere. We launched Vega Health to build the connective tissue necessary to make healthcare AI actually work, and connect health systems with the solutions that best advance their priorities. Our team has the experience to effectively integrate and monitor these solutions while driving adoption, outcomes, and value.”
To learn more, click here.
Graph AI, focused on patient safety and pharmacovigilance, has raised a $3 million Seed round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, according to a press release. The investment will enable Graph to accelerate product innovation, expand its engineering team, and drive global market adoption.
Pharmacovigilance, mandated by global drug regulatory authorities, requires pharmaceutical companies to continuously monitor, detect, and report adverse drug events across a drug’s entire lifecycle. The goal of Graph AI is to automate pharmacovigilance tasks that enhance the efficiency and accuracy of medical reviews while ensuring regulatory compliance, with the exception of certain regulatory-mandated steps, according to the release.
Founded in 2024, Graph AI is led by CEO Raghav Parvataraju, CTO Vijay Ponukumati, CPO Mohan Konyala, and CFO Ashutosh Bordekar.
To learn more, click here.
Planyear has raised $12 million in seed funding led by True Ventures for its AI-native platform to transform benefits consultants’ workflows, according to a press release. The round will accelerate development of its BEACON platform, which automates administrative tasks that consume up to 70% of consultants’ time, freeing them to focus on strategic guidance and client relationships.
The funding will support platform expansion across key workflow areas as well as enhanced support for employers, general agents and carriers, according to the release. Planyear will also expand its sales team and further develop its AI products to keep up with rapid technological changes and prepare for future capabilities.
To learn more, click here.
The Metastatic Brain Tumor Collaborative (MBTC), created by the American Brain Tumor Association, has awarded $100,000 in research grants to support innovative projects aimed at improving the diagnosis, treatment, and understanding of central nervous system (CNS) metastases, according to a press release. It marks the first-ever collaborative grant opportunity dedicated to CNS metastasis, made possible through the collective effort of ten leading nonprofit cancer organizations.
CNS metastases are the most common type of brain tumor in adults, occurring when cancers such as breast, lung, melanoma, colorectal, and kidney spread to the brain or spinal cord. Despite affecting more than 200,000 people in the U.S. each year, this patient population is vastly underrepresented in research and clinical care.
The MBTC’s CNS Metastasis Research Grants provide $50,000 for one-year seed funding to high-risk, high-impact projects with the potential to transform how metastatic brain tumors are detected and managed. Each funded project must address CNS metastases arising from at least two distinct primary cancer types, with potential benefit to adult and/or pediatric populations.
The selected teams receiving MBTC grant funding include:
Investigator: Sherise Ferguson, MD
Institution: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Project Title: Evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of NK cell immunotherapy for CNS metastasis
Investigator: Alireza Mansouri, MD
Institution: The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Project Title: Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomic Signatures of Leptomeningeal Disease
To learn more click here.
Photo: Natalie Mis, Getty Images
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