Phenomix Sciences (Phenomix), a precision biotechnology company bringing data intelligence to the treatment of obesity, announces today the launch of its biobanking registry and outcome study. The registry will study variability in obesity by looking at patients' DNA, metabolomics, hormones, patient behavior, assessments, and treatment outcomes. The data collected will supplement the 20 billion unique data points that make up the Phenomix Sciences Obesity Platform. Mayo Clinic is the first to enroll in the registry with its Rochester site set to contribute patient outcomes from 2,000 patients undergoing treatment for obesity to its biobank.
The biobanking registry is a critical milestone in Phenomix's mission to conquer obesity by creating unprecedented access to its clinical and molecular information throughout all stages and phenotypes of the disease. Outcomes data generated from the biobanks across the registry will supplement Phenomix's database of biological and clinical data matched to the four obesity phenotypes. Insights generated from the database are being used to develop more predictive tests to identify the right intervention for each patient with obesity. This will allow for a better understanding of variability in patient outcomes when undergoing obesity treatments. Despite the justifiable excitement about new weight management products such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, several clinical studies from Phenomix's founders indicate that patient response varies with underlying phenotype. Thus, for many patients, it will open the door to the most effective and appropriate intervention for their unique phenotype.
A growing body of evidence indicates that obesity is not a single disease with a single treatment type, but a constellation of diseases. Obesity's roots lie in individual DNA; however, evidence suggests there is a complicated web connecting obesity to age, race, and gender, education, and socioeconomic status. Understanding a person's obesity phenotype — the combination of genes with environmental and behavioral factors — can help pinpoint the cause of weight gain. Phenomix's phenotypes are based on research from its physician founders, Andres Acosta, MD, PhD and Michael Camilleri, MD of Mayo Clinic, that has demonstrated when patients have been phenotyped and prescribed the right medications, they can achieve up to 16 percent total body weight loss (TBWL).
In addition to creating the first biobanking registry of this type, this is the first large scale study to monitor phenotypes in patients with obesity being treated with a variety of treatments. The impact of this biobanking registry and the data it will yield has the potential to change the entire system's approach to obesity, from a treatment recommendation to the way payers determine coverage and how industry combines diagnostics testing with drug therapy.
This unique biobanking registry will provide critical and contemporary data on obesity outcomes, impacting every stakeholder in the episode of care, This registry is an important opportunity to make vast strides in how we understand the complexities of obesity treatment. All obesity programs should be seeking the opportunity to participate and contribute to this registry. The more data we have on the variables that contribute to an individual's obesity diagnosis, the more lives we can save by putting the best treatment plan forward. We believe the investment in the biobanking registry will better support obesity centers by providing concrete evidence and insight into how DNA and other factors need to be considered in treatment. Patients can benefit greatly from achieving the desired outcome the first time around, and payers avoid paying for trial-and-error approaches and can reduce overall co-morbid conditions for members."
Mark Bagnall, CEO of Phenomix Sciences.
About Phenomix Sciences
Phenomix Sciences is a biotechnology pioneer on a mission to conquer obesity globally through the science of phenotyping, the understanding of how genes combined with environmental and behavioral factors can inform obesity treatment plans. Mayo Clinic physicians, scientists, and researchers, Andres Acosta, MD, and Michael Camilleri, MD, founded the company under the belief that the key to understanding obesity is unprecedented access to its clinical and molecular information throughout all stages and phenotypes of the disease. Phenomix leverages data intelligence for yielding better accuracy in predicting individual patient response to specific weight loss interventions and reducing the variability in weight loss results for patients.