ImYoo is a patient-enabled biodiscovery platform, providing end-to-end data generation and data access to therapeutics companies and academic partners. From a small at-home blood sample taken by its network of engaged patient scientists, ImYoo is able to extract rich single-cell immune data that can uncover the molecular mechanisms at play in complex immune-mediated conditions. With its technology, ImYoo has built up an immune atlas consisting of healthy immune baselines, as well as longitudinal data in dedicated areas such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease. ImYoo holds an exclusive license to their patented platform for single-cell immune profiling on small volumes of blood from Caltech, and a provisional patent for stabilizing cellular gene expression from capillary whole blood. ImYoo is working with pharma, biotech companies, and universities to deliver insights for powering new therapeutics & biomarkers, while growing its internal atlas and patient network to power larger partnerships in the future.
What is the problem?
"Among the top 20 drugs in the U.S., up to 80% of patients are non-responders" (Precision Health in the Age of Large Language Models). Blockbuster drugs with billions in annual revenue, like Abbvie's Humira and Takeda's Entyvio for autoimmune disorders have surprisingly low efficacy rates (23% remission for Humira, 42% for Entyvio). The most surprising fact, perhaps, is that even with such low effectiveness, these drugs are considered extremely successful compared to their alternatives, and they are life-changing for the patients for which they are effective. It begs the question: how many more people could benefit from these therapies that are missed because they are not diagnosed properly by their doctor, and how many more therapies could exist that achieve life-changing remission for the majority of people where these drugs are ineffective?
What is their solution?
ImYoo's platform is designed to generate actionable data for tracking disease progression by identifying targets and biomarkers for earlier intervention. The data provided by ImYoo can assist in developing better tools for clinicians and support pharmaceutical companies in discovering new therapeutic targets to slow or halt diseases proactively, before they become terminal or chronic. Longitudinal data paves the way for preventative solutions. Also, by making it easy for patients to self-collect capillary blood at home, we increase patient retention and engagement and capture data at critical moments in the pathology of disease, such as during autoimmune flares. It has been shown that distance to clinical trial sites is a major decision for patients to enroll in a study. By making it more convenient to participate in research studies through shipment of self-collected samples, we have greater flexibility in reaching specific populations of interest that are typically underrepresented in research.
