Personal genomics business

La entrada es de Technology Review

(Aquí otro reporte anterior de Technology Review sobre la compañía: Knome)

Extracto abrebocas:

"In some ways, Jorge Conde, cofounder of the genomics startup Knome, knows his clients more intimately than any other company president. Knome is the first company to sequence and analyze a consumer's complete genome. And Conde and his team have spent a full day with each member of their select clientele, going through the minute details of the results in search of hidden genomic time bombs, subtle health risks, and other information.

At $100,000, Knome's product is still out of reach for most consumers. But that could change fast. The cost of genome sequencing is dropping by an order of magnitude every one to two years, and the cost of Knome's product will drop with it, though not quite as fast. (When the company debuted its service in late 2007, it cost $350,000.) That means that within the next few years, having your genome sequenced will cost about the same as cataract surgery, making it affordable to include your genome sequence as an integral part of your medical record..."

El tema (producto, industria, innovación) es MEDICINA PERSONALIZADA; una ruptura frente a la práctica tradicional de siglos en el oficio-ciencia, comparable al salto de la mula al Jet:

1. Tratamientos a la medida de cada organismo (de cada ser)
2. Prescripciones preventivas a tiempo a la medida de los riesgos inherentes a cada organismo
3. Y mucho más...

(Obsérvese por ejemplo el cambio tan radical en las economías - y entregables - del "negocio": pagar durante 40 años USD150 al mes de medicina prepagada, por si uno se va a enfermar de no se sabe qué no se sabe cuándo, o pagar USD 100.000 al principio de la vida para saber más cuanto antes y poder tomar las medidas preventivas - y otras - que correspondan)

(¡El secuenciamiento del genoma del cliente se hace en China: en el Beijing Genomics Institute , cuyo eslógan reza: Decode Life, Explore the Future, Experience Brilliant Life!)

(Otro negocio que se vería alterado de la cabeza a los pies es el de los seguros de vida... de muchas formas... tendría que reinventarse completamente sin duda...)

(los paréntesis son para indicar que estas reflexiones son más que preliminares :-) pues la magnitud de lo que está en juego me ha generado un asombro que obnubila en parte mis capacidades de raciocinio :-)

Extracto de un Jobs-To-Be-Done clave:

"When launching Knome in 2007, Conde wandered into largely uncharted territory--only a handful of complete human genomes had been sequenced at the time. That meant that the company had to figure out how to select and analyze the most relevant information in the genome and then deliver that information to clients in a useful and digestible way. "We have to make sure they are not overwhelmed and don't misunderstand the information," says Conde. "This hadn't been done before, so we wanted to be responsible, informative, and entertaining."..."

Extracto de otro Jobs-To-Be-Done clave:

"People interested in having their genomes sequenced first go through an initial consultation "to make sure they understand what we can and cannot do," says Conde. "When you're operating at this price point, you don't want an unsatisfied customer." One of the biggest controversies in personal genomics to date has been the utility of currently available genetic information, especially for variations that have been only weakly linked to disease. For this reason, consumer genomics companies, including Knome, specify that they are not providing a medical service..."

Extracto de otro Jobs-To-Be-Done clave:

"DNA is then isolated from a client's blood sample and sent to the Beijing Genomics Institute in China to be sequenced. Once complete, the sequence is analyzed at Knome. In order to assuage privacy concerns, the sequence data, along with the genome browser, reside only on a USB key given to the individual. "With this approach, you are the gatekeeper of your information," says Conde." (ver foto tomada de Technology Review)

Clients get their key at an in-person meeting devoted to their genomes, where they are schooled by a clinical geneticist, a genetic counselor, a bioinformatician and others. (Clients are invited to bring their personal physicians, says Conde, though most don't.) "We spend the entire day going through genetics and sequencing 101, and then walking them through their genome," says Conde. "People often start out tense, thinking there will be a ticking time bomb in their genome. But then they start to relax and ask questions."



Y el gran reto:

"Conde says that the lessons learned from the early adopters will serve the company well as more people can afford to invest in genome analysis. The company is currently developing a new, more-automated genome-interpretation service that will be offered in conjunction with genome sequencing from Illumina, a genomics technology company headquartered in San Diego. Illumina announced last month that it would offer personal genome sequencing for $48,000, but with minimal analysis of the data included. Analysis of the meaning of the human genome is proving to be more much more complicated than the sequencing itself. "In the long-term, that will be a big driver of value," says Conde. "We will see the high price point go away, and the real value for both individuals and companies will be to provide an ongoing narrative."

¡Guau!
¡Guau!
¡Guau!