Thought Leaders in Healthcare IT: Sequencing.com CEO Brandon Colby (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What kind of price points are we talking about?

Brandon Colby: The nutrition DNA analysis apps are priced around $20 to $60. There are some that are priced a bit more than that and others a bit less. These reports don’t just provide one little bit of information.

These are 10 to 30 pages long. They provide a ton of information for the individual to understand their DNA. They look at several genes. It’s a complex type of analysis that is packaged and delivered in a very simple and straightforward way. 

Sramana Mitra: Who are the vendors? Are these small startups? Are these large companies?

Brandon Colby: We developed some of the apps in-house. Just like Apple, they created the Alarm Clock and the Calendar app. We created some apps initially. Other developers are primarily from early-stage companies and researchers. We have researchers who work in labs and have unique ways of analyzing data, but they don’t have any way to reach a consumer.

We provide access to a very large population of people who have already had genetic testing and who are looking for ways to understand their DNA. Whether it’s early-stage companies or later-stage companies or researchers, our marketplace provides access.

Sramana Mitra: How big is the consumer base that accesses Sequencing.com? 

Brandon Colby: We have been around now for about three years. The consumer base has grown through three different methods. One is organic. The second is through paid. The third is through partnerships that we’ve worked with.

When a person has a genetics test, these laboratories will offer Sequencing.com services. We store the genetic data for free. It’s HIPAA-compliant. It’s GDPR-compliant. It’s a safe storage for that laboratory’s clients.

Then also it enables that laboratory to say that their testing can also be interpreted or personalized for nutrition or health. That lab can have that as a value-add to the testing that they’re providing.

Sramana Mitra: Coming back to the use case question, besides nutrition apps, what are the other buckets?

Brandon Colby: Another use case that we see frequently are healthcare professionals who want to offer services like whole genome sequencing but the healthcare professional doesn’t know how to interpret that data. They don’t know how to deal with a very large file size.

A single genome could be 150GB. We frequently work with healthcare professionals. We provide both the whole genome sequencing through a laboratory partner as well as reports that are tailored for the healthcare professional.

While their patients can go and find information on personalized nutrition, we also have specialized reports for healthcare professionals themselves that speak the language of the professional. This provides access for healthcare professionals to offer precision medicine to their patients.

Sramana Mitra: How many of that would fall in that category?

Brandon Colby: We have more than 30 different DNA analysis, apps, and reports. For the ones that are primarily utilized by healthcare professionals, that falls into a smaller category. That’s about five different reports that are primarily used by healthcare professionals.

Their patients don’t branch out. It’s really a smaller set that we find over and over again that are the ones that are most helpful to a practicing healthcare provider.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Thought Leaders in Healthcare IT: Sequencing.com CEO Brandon Colby
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