Business

Democratising access to crucial genomic data

Auindrila Das has established a firm to enable people make better-informed healthcare decisions based on their genetic information

Auindrila Das: 'I had been searching for opportunities to work in this area, only to find that no companies in Ireland were tackling the problems head-on.'

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Olive Keogh
Thu Apr 4 2024 - 06:00

Auindrila Das is a genomics scientist with a background in genetic engineering and molecular medicine. She is passionate about democratising access to genomic information — as this is an expensive and protracted process — and earlier this year she set up a genomics technology company, gCLINICS Health, to help more people make better-informed healthcare decisions based on their genetic information.

Genes play a role in inherited diseases and conditions. Genomics is the study of all of someone’s genes and Das says gaining access to specialised genetic expertise is often difficult and fragmented due to a severe global shortage of genetic experts and counsellors.

“There are only 7,000 available worldwide and healthcare practitioners currently delivering genetic services often have neither the training nor the expertise to diagnose genetic conditions,” she explains. “Patients and healthcare providers face challenges in obtaining accurate and actionable genetic data which leads to delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis, suboptimal treatment decisions and missed opportunities for early interventions.”

The idea for gCLINICS, and its first product, GENEii (Genetic Intelligent Informatics Tool), stemmed from Das’s familiarity with the complexity involved in handling vast amounts of genetic data and the problems she encountered when dealing with genetic and genomic services in Ireland.

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“For over a decade, I had been searching for opportunities to work in this area, only to find that no companies in Ireland were tackling the problems head-on,” Das says. “One of the most pressing issues was the scarcity of a genetic workforce, which meant that patients were waiting an exorbitant amount of time, often in distress, to see a genetic counsellor or a consultant.

“However, increasing the genetic workforce is a monumental task and it was clear to me that in order to change the situation it was imperative to leverage technology. This inspired the creation of the GENEii platform, which is designed to speed up the process and bridge the gap between patients, clinicians and genomic services.”

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GENEii is an AI-powered virtual genetic assistant aimed at clinics, hospitals and laboratories offering genetic testing. It is still at a very early stage in its development and at this point, it has two “jobs” — to help reduce the clinical administrative burden and to deliver genetic information to patients and clinicians in a medically-responsible way.

“GENEii provides tangible business returns for clinics and an improved experience for clients, which will ultimately lead to better patient outcomes in highly sensitive areas such as reproductive health,” says Das, who adds that the next stage in GENEii’s development will be to expand its capabilities to provide clinical support on which treatment decisions can be based.

Das will launch GENEii in the third quarter of this year initially with fertility and reproductive health clinics with applications for cancer treatment and cardiovascular health to follow.

“We are starting with reproductive health as according to the WHO [World Health Organisation] it is a big global problem. Over 17 per cent of the adult population will experience infertility at some point and nearly 50 per cent of all infertility cases are due to genetic defects. As infertility is such a pressing and distressing problem, I felt it was a good place to start,” says Das, who estimates the company’s bootstrapped start-up costs to date at about €25,000 with support from the New Frontiers programme at TU Blanchardstown.

The drive now is to finish out the MPV and have it pilot-ready in the next few months. Das is looking to raise €500,000 in the short term to complete the development and build out her team with a further fundraising round of €1 million planned for next year. So far, interest in the platform (which will make its money as a SaaS service) is brisk in Ireland and the Middle East and Das aims to start with these two markets followed by the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand.