At this juncture of the 21st century, digitization has touched almost every facet of the business world and beyond. The possibilities don’t simply seem limitless – they are, thanks to ever-evolving technological advancements.

Even the human body has been exposed to digitization. According to giants of the field, the implications for our health are dazzling.

“What if we can actually understand what changes in human biology at the onset and during the progression of chronic diseases? If we know what’s changing biochemically inside the human body, we can prevent it from happening,” says Naveen Jain, CEO of Viome Life Sciences.

At the heart of Viome’s consumer offering is its Full Body Intelligence Test, a simple at-home assessment that uses RNA-based analysis to examine thousands of molecular signals and convert them into clear, personalized actions for improving health.

A new approach

The pioneers seeking to change the status quo when it comes to healthcare are taking a variety of approaches, but the company boasts a powerful point of difference: Jain himself, a philanthropist and entrepreneur whose imagination and ambition know no bounds.

“Healthcare is the only industry where you want your client to be constantly sick and unhappy,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “The minute they become healthy and happy, you stop making money. That fundamental problem is what we set out to solve, and in five-to-10 years, this industry will look completely different.”

Fresh from his successes with Moon Express, TalentWise and the XPrize initiative, Jain formed Viome Life Sciences as a collective of scientists, nutritionists, doctors, scholars, researchers and business identities dedicated to one cause: helping people live healthier lives.

“What if we could empower individuals to actually understand what’s going on in their body?” he says. “What foods should they be eating and why? What’s harmful about supplements?”

It’s quite a mission, but Viome Life Sciences has hit the ground running since it was established in 2016. Boosted by his track record of success in lunar exploration and technological innovation, Jain found that business success and philanthropy weren’t as mutually exclusive as they seemed.

“As a founder, you have to find something that you’re willing to die for and then live for it,” he says.

“Ask yourself: if you’re going to dedicate 10 or 15 years of your life to this initiative, even if you succeed, will it help a billion people live a better life? If so, you can in fact create a hundred-billion-dollar company. Making money is simply a by-product of doing things that improve people’s lives.”

And Viome Life Sciences is well on the way. The company has carved a niche in the realm of molecular biology, an arena that has redefined much of what was once believed when it came to the intricacies of human health.

“We’ve done 1.5 million tests and analyzed over 400 quadrillion biological data points,” Jain reveals. “We’ve collected a massive amount of data and continue to do so.”

All is poured into Viome Life Sciences’ metatranscriptomic and machine learning platform, which the company believes has revolutionized the prospects of precision therapeutics.

The platform does what doctors used to do: parse complex data specifically tied to a patient and provide the right outcome. One size does not fit all, Jain says, and it’s about time that fact was catered to.

“Human biology is so individualized. What works for you may not work for me, or even for you a year from now, because your body is constantly changing and adapting,” he explains.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all snapshot, Viome’s platform continuously adapts its recommendations over time, reflecting the fact that human biology is dynamic and that nutritional and lifestyle needs evolve as the body changes.

A personal mission

According to Jain, Viome Life Sciences meets patients where they are, making it simple for people to know what’s best for them rather than trying to piece it together from multiple specialist appointments. For Jain, a very personal fire burns at the heart of its operations.

“I started this company because I lost my father to Stage 4 pancreatic cancer,” he says. “I didn’t even know he was sick.”

Pancreatic cancer is particularly insidious in the way it disguises itself until it’s too late. Symptoms seldom present until at least Stage 3, at which point the patient has anywhere from months to weeks left to live.

Jain says this is a problem Viome Life Sciences was determined to solve.

“We’ve developed a test for Stage 1 throat cancer and Stage 1 oral cancer, and in the next few months, we’ll be launching a test to detect Stage 1 pancreatic cancer,” he reveals. “It’s full circle for us, and it’s what I’m most proud of.”

Also among the company’s accomplishments is the ability to detect irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) including Crohn’s disease or colitis.

“We are able to detect colitis, which 15 percent of the population suffers from,” he confirms. “We have also done a double blinded placebo-controlled study that showed 64 percent of people who had IBS constipation became healthy in 90 days compared to 10 percent of people on placebo. Think about it: using food – not drugs – as a medicine.”

Jain says that this too is among his proudest achievements with Viome Life Sciences.

“When you can start to show people they no longer need to feel helpless and hopeless when suffering from a chronic disease, that’s when you can start to be proud of what you’re doing,” he enthuses.

Jain shares this pride with the entire  team, insisting egos are left at the door.

“We’re all moving toward the same goal,” he says. “We all know what our north star is. We might disagree at times, but never on what it is we’re trying to do.”

The business of Viome Life Sciences is, of course, not without challenges, but Jain says it all depends on your perspective.

“The only reason some of us can go out and do these things is because we don’t look at them as challenges,” he points out.

“To me, the challenge is what makes something fun, and that’s when true personal growth happens.”