Comments
Chennai-based start-up Xcode Lifesciences, which uses genetic make-up to personalise treatment and prevent diseases, will partner with doctors and hospitals to study the effectiveness of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and immuno-suppressant drugs in India.
Saleem Mohammed, Chief Executive Officer, told BusinessLine that with huge limitation on surrogacy and increasing infertility rate in the country, number of patients undergoing In Vitro Fertilization is on the rise. Hesaid, “But there is no concrete data on how effective FSH administered to the women are, as there is a possibility that the drug might not work for your genetic make-up.”
“They may either cause side-effects or get excreted. To avoid this, we study the patients’ genetic make-up and recommend suitable alternatives,” Mohammed added.
How does Xcode manage this? The company partners with hospitals and doctors to get saliva sample of the patient. Using the sample, XCode studies the patient’s genetic make-up. It collects data, interprets information and translates the genetic information into personalised treatment recommendation for its partners, who will in turn make suitable changes to their treatment plan. “You could increase dosage or change drugs based on their genotype,” he added. Similar research will be carried out for immuno-suppressant drug Tacrolimus that is administered for transplant patients with team of doctors in Chennai. “In this case, since patients have to be on medication for a long time, it is all the more necessary to understand how the drugs react,” Mohammed added. The company will expand its research on the drug Clopidogrel, which is responsible for preventing artery block.
According to Mohammed, it does not work on 35-40 per cent of the people, resulting in bypass surgery. “We are also working on expanding the scope of research using a bigger sample size of about 1,000,” he added.
Cancer treatmentCancer is another area Xcode Lifesciences is looking at.
“According to some studies, only 25 per cent of cancer drugs work on patients. Since the disease is a race against time, we are looking to create low-cost personalised solution for patients,” he added.
In addition to personalised medicine, the company is into wellness segment, which is its major source of income. The company has operations in Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and London.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.