Abstract
PatientsLikeMe, the world’s largest personalized health network, announced January 5 that it will form a research partnership with iCarbonX, a company based in China on the fast track as a provider of genetic artificial intelligence (AI).
As a result of the partnership, PatientsLikeMe will secure $100 million in venture capital and will in turn provide iCarbonX with multi-omics characterization services, according to Ben Heywood, co-founder and president of PatientsLikeMe.
PatientsLikeMe Co-founder and Chairman Jamie Heywood, left, with iCarbonX founder Jun Wang, Ph.D.
Business Wire
PatientsLikeMe will be at the core of an alliance founded by iCarbonX, which also includes SomaLogic, HealthTell, AOBiome, GALT, Imagu, and Robustnique—leading in bio, omics, and AI companies.
The alliance will aim to digitize, analyze, and share insights and knowledge that can improve lives, said Jun Wang, Ph.D., founder of iCarbonX. According to Dr. Wang, PatientsLikeMe’s unparalleled track record of engaging and empowering patients in their health was a key factor in his partnership decision.
Heywood called the partnership with iCarbonX and the alliance, “very significant” and “a natural next step” for PatientsLikeMe.
The partnership will not sway PatientsLikeMe from its original mission of providing a personalized health network for those who want to share their experiences to improve disease outcomes, Heywood said. However, partnering with iCarbonX will give PatientsLikeMe access to deeper data, “so we can measure even more, and eventually help people understand more precisely which factors contribute to their health and the progression of disease,” he said.
“We’re not doing science for science’s sake; value comes when information modifies people’s lives, and we’re committed to giving patients information first, so they can improve their outcomes,” Heywood said.
As a first step in the partnership, PatientsLikeMe has already started to collect and analyze blood from some of its members with ALS and Parkinson’s disease, Heywood said.
In conjunction with the iCarbonX partnership, PatientsLikeMe has also announced a new board of directors, to include: Jamie Heywood, co-founder of PatientsLikeMe; Martin Coulter, CEO of PatientsLikeMe; Philippe Amouyal, managing director of Invus LP; Jun Wang, founder of iCarbonX; and Chun Wu, co-founder and COO of iCarbonX.