Keith Cline, VentureFizz
David, thanks so much for joining us.
David Bates, Linus Health
Oh, thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
I'm excited to talk to you because there's so much going on in the world of health care, personalized medicine, and technology. And Linus health is one of these companies where you guys are making personalized brain health a reality. So what does that mean? What is Linus Health?
David Bates, Linus Health
Well, Linus Health, as you said, is a brain health company that we're really bringing to bear the best in science and medicine, that for so long wasn't translatable to a broader audience. And so it really depended on where you lived to get access to the best in brain health care. So we're using the latest technologies to increase access to the best in brain health care. And we do that by basically using very classic or, you know, very established neuropsychological assessment. But we break it down into components and then break down that behavior into discrete signals. And then we use, we use machine learning to understand what signals are relevant. And then we build AI models to really assess the person while they're taking the assessment. And so we map that back on to brain function, so we can get a really good understanding of how an individual's brain is working. Or, in some, in some cases, unfortunately, where it's starting to not work, or starting to have some dysfunction. And then we use the latest in science through end to recommendation engines to really pinpoint what can you do about the potential onset of some kind of brain health disorder, and really monitor go with the person to really on that journey to optimize their brain health and really live the life that they want to live? With all things considered. So we're really excited to enable the whole world to access the best in brain health care.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
So as you mentioned, you are focused on Alzheimer's dementia, like, which makes sense. So if I was starting to develop early signs of dementia, is that when you want to leverage your platform, and like, like, how's it worked from the end-user like perspective?
David Bates, Linus Health
Sure, great question. So in dementia, which, as I mentioned, we were starting there, because the demand and the need and, you know, also people, you know, the biggest risk of dementia is age. And, you know, it's, I would say, among the cruelest of diseases, because it robs people of the person, and at the end of our lives, you know, to not remember who we are, and who our loved ones are, is incredibly cruel. And that is, you know, we're not going to be able to make people live forever. But we really want at the end of their days, them to really know what's going on to be with their loved ones to really understand their person and their journey in life. So we really want to equate healthspan to lifespan. In order to do that, we have to get much like cancer and other chronic diseases, we have to get in as early as possible to understand that this is the potential, they're at risk. And it's already starting to happen even though it's not detected. And so, our assessment, especially the clock, the digital clock, which is an award-winning assessment, it's incredible. It was the original clock drawing test was developed in Boston about 50 years ago by Edith Kaplan. And it has since been digitized and around 2005. And a lot of work has been done on it since. And we've just shown this year earlier this year, from researchers at Mass General Hospital that the cloud was the most sensitive thing They've analyzed, that could detect the pathology or the presence of amyloid plaques, which are you know, the marker for Alzheimer's disease, we could detect it before any symptoms were shown. And so we do even neuropsychological assessment and classic tests. And we can do it in two minutes and those take 30 to 40 minutes. And so being able to detect is the beginning of the mission of the requirements we need to be able to have very high sensitivity and then if we can get before they start showing symptoms, we can make the recommendations. You know both physics-based interactions pharmacological interactions in life in health decisions, you know, changing lifestyle, all of which have shown the potential to modify the disease course, Alzheimer's, the treatments have a long way to go. We know there's a lot of news about it. But I am full of optimism about the things in the pipeline, not only the pharmacological agents but especially these physics-based agents, these noninvasive, which is actually Albro. However, his background is in transcranial stimulation. So he was the pioneer of repetitive TMS or transcranial magnetic stimulation, he's moving into transcranial current stimulation, they're doing incredible things, we look up his work. So we're combining multi-pronged, like the lifestyle because our behavior is an expression of our brain. And so if we modify our behavior, that's it actually is a two-way street. It goes back in it improves our brain health, you know, more exercise purpose in life socialization, you know, watching, you know, having cognitive challenge, you know, just really taking care of our health has a big effect on our brain. And again, of course, there are other two interventions. So we really take a multi-pronged approach to optimizing brain health. And it all begins with early detection and understanding of what the signals are we're seeing, and what can we do about it.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
Such amazing work, like guys, you mentioned, most people, if not all can relate, whether it's a family member or friends that struggle with things like this. And if we can detect it early and address it, then obviously, great things will hopefully happen in the end. So let's talk about the company today. Like, where are you at as far as the stage of the company, funding number of employees, whatever you can share?
David Bates, Linus Health
Sure. So where we're at today is we're launching our new enhanced clinical product, which I'm incredibly excited about. And we have an incredible roadmap, that is just it's revolutionary, and I can't wait till we get to announce it to the world in the coming quarter. And so as far as funding, we completed our Series B, we're substantially resourced. We have incredible passionate investors who are mission-aligned, impact-oriented, and very proven in the success of biotech and technology. So we're excited about our resourcing as far as the number of teammates we have, I think we're approaching 75. And the team is something I'm most proud of, that we could really assemble some of the smartest people I've ever met, they're so driven, so passionate, and they just are so professional. And it's really great to see because I've worked in a lot of different industries in the tech industry in the healthcare industry but to be able to get a blend of the best of both worlds. It's been incredible. And so we have this multidisciplinary team, everyone's a craftsman, they really know their craft, and they just contribute. And we're aligned for the good. So I'm really excited about our team and to continue building with values-aligned teammates, and not lip service, but actually they live it. And we even incentivize that we encourage that living out our values, and really accomplishing the mission to really hold ourselves accountable, hold each other accountable. That's the kind of team culture we have.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
Now, as far as the plans ahead, what are your plans for hiring, moving forward?
David Bates, Linus Health
So we're planning to continue to hire I mean, we've, we've grown substantially, I think we've been maybe 30 People in the last two quarters. And we continue to hire the best engineers, data scientists, and we're really moving toward building up our sales machine. So sales and marketing hires will be big in 2022, we really just want to get our distribution out as widely as possible, not just in the US not in the top markets, but we have actually great connections with lower-middle-income countries and because of the software we can push it out and we've already translated into probably a dozen languages to really driven to not only serve North America but the world. One because we want to give them access to the best health care, especially brain health care, but two we want to make sure that our data is unbiased and is collected on so many people so that we can serve everyone. We don't want to bias the data set. And so really, we're driven to serve every community. And so that, you know, because it does, the science shows that it's not a political thing. It's the Science actually shows that you need to diversify your dataset. So you're making sure you're delivering the best health care information to every patient. So that's, that's a big driver of our so we have great stuff happening in Europe happening an Asia, South America, and we're continuing to expand even the Caribbean we're super excited about. So that's, that's we have an ambitious hiring schedule ahead.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
Now, there is a very competitive job market out there, there are lots of options for people for the top talent out there. So why is now the ideal time to join Linus health?
David Bates, Linus Health
I think we're very competitive. As far as, you know, compensation. We don't want people thinking about compensation, you know, they we do what we can to make sure that those things are addressed. We want to be fair with everyone. And we really want people who are passionate about the mission. So if they're, if those needs are met, it's really about do you care about brain health? Do you care about access to health care? And do you know that health, you know, really making a difference in people's lives all over the world is a major thing for us. And I think that is if that resonates with people, Linus Health is the place to be because that's what we're about.
Keith Cline, VentureFizz
Well, there's definitely a lot of great companies out there doing very meaningful mission-driven work, but then there's a whole different plateau of other companies that I completely admire Linus health is one of them. You know, I personally have family members that have struggled with this so we could detect things early and solve these issues and let them live the life that they deserve to live. This is a company I would want to help build, so you need to go check out their job listings on VentureFizz. Go to venturefizz.com/linushealth, and you'll see all their listings there. David, thanks so much for taking the time to walk us through all the great things happening at the company.
David Bates, Linus Health
Thanks again for having me, Keith.
Transcribed by https://otter.a
