Owlstone Medical Launches OMED Health to Enable Patients to Better Understand their Gut Microbiome and Manage their Digestive Health
Published on: 4 Apr 2023
- Breath-based analysis technology and digital platform offers a science-backed approach to helping individuals monitor and treat their gut health and understand their microbiome
- Supported by gastrointestinal experts, information can be used to develop a personalised health plan to improve quality of life for people living with digestive health issues
- Future point-of-care devices, software applications, and patient support to be available under the OMED Health® brand
Cambridge, UK, 4 April 2023: Owlstone Medical (“Owlstone”), the global leader in Breath Biopsy® for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, today announced the launch of OMED Health1, a dedicated, patient-centric brand and digital platform that will offer patients and clinicians access to breath-based diagnostic tests, point-of-care (PoC) devices and support resources for a range of conditions. Initially focused on digestive disease, OMED Health will help individuals with gut health issues have an improved quality of life by enabling better, and faster, understanding and management of their conditions.
In digestive health, breath testing is emerging as an effective way for patients to monitor and manage symptoms. OMED Health’s gut health tests operate by detecting small amounts of hydrogen and methane gases on breath, which can be collected at home. These gases on breath can be a key indicator of gut health and can signal certain conditions and diseases.
Following analysis, through Owlstone’s partnership with the Functional Gut Clinic2, test results along with interpretation are provided to help diagnose small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or carbohydrate malabsorption. These common causes of digestive discomfort are actionable through treatments such as antibiotics or targeted dietary changes. By using data from the OMED Health tests, and combining it with expert support, personalized health plans can be generated. OMED Health’s tests are already in use by multiple NHS Trusts across the UK. In addition to providing a platform for the sale of clinical tests, the OMED Health website offers access to news, articles, events, and other patient-targeted content.
As part of the OMED Health offering, a portable breath analyzer that can monitor gut health over time by measuring hydrogen and methane levels is being developed. The device, which will be available later in 2023 with a waitlist3 for the device now open for priority access, will be accompanied by a mobile app that allows viewing of results and tracking of symptoms and other potential triggers. OMED Health’s expert gastrointestinal physiologists, or a person’s own doctor, would then review the data to help create a personalized plan. Being able to track breath measurements and symptoms over time, users will be able to understand the progress of their condition and response to their treatment plan.
Owlstone is also engaged in projects with leading pharma and academic partners4 in digestive health including the microbiome, which have the potential to generate novel customer-funded biomarkers that will fuel the future test pipeline and be commercialized under OMED Health.
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “People living with digestive health issues currently feel let down. They’re waiting years to get a diagnosis and have little choice but to live their daily lives in discomfort, with many turning to fad diets, supplements, apps and devices that have little or no scientific basis. Through OMED Health, we are deploying our breath analysis technology, developed with the support of gut health experts, to provide people with a solution they can trust. Our aim is simple – helping the billion people globally with digestive health issues live normal lives.”
About digestive health
A wide range of illnesses, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), carbohydrate malabsorption, and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) can impact gut health, however diagnosis is typically slow, taking 6.5 years on average5. This leaves those living with these conditions unsure about what is happening with their bodies, and how they can manage symptoms. This uncertainty can lead those living with digestive health issues to make poor health choices that can be ineffective, or worse harmful. For example, a significant proportion (~40%) of those living with IBS symptoms have SIBO – but don’t realise6. This means they struggle to access treatment and can’t take control of their gut health.
In the UK alone, almost nine million adults experience IBS7, and 3.4 million experience SIBO8. Digestive health is also cited as one of the leading causes of work absenteeism and in the US alone, overall annual healthcare expenditures for gastrointestinal disease total $136 billion, which is more than for heart disease ($113 billion) trauma ($103 billion), or mental health ($99 billion)9.
1. https://omedhealth.com/
2. https://www.owlstonemedical.com/about/news/2021/may/18/digestive-health-collaboration-functional-gut/
3. https://omedhealth.com/waitlist/
4. https://www.owlstonemedical.com/products/
5. https://aboutibs.org/what-is-ibs/facts-about-ibs/
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22262197/
7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29761234/
8. https://www.bjmp.org/content/irritable-bowel-syndrome-primary-care-physicians
9. https://www.jwatch.org/na47723/2018/10/23/burden-and-costs-gastrointestinal-disease-us
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
For more information please contact:
Sarah Jeffery, Zyme Communications
sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
+44 (0) 7771-730919
Or
Frazer Hall, MEDiSTRAVA Consulting
Frazer.Hall@medistrava.com
+44 203 928 6900
About OMED Health (https://omedhealth.com/):
OMED Health is a dedicated, patient-centric brand and digital platform that offers patients and gut health experts access to breath-based analysis, point-of-care (PoC) devices and supporting resources for a range of conditions. With an initial focus on digestive disease and gut health, OMED Health will maximise patient benefit of the Owlstone Medical breath testing technology.
About Owlstone Medical (www.owlstonemedical.com):
Owlstone Medical’s vision is to save 100,000 lives by realizing the enormous promise of breath-based diagnostics through the development and application of Breath Biopsy®, a unique platform capable of both biomarker discovery and use in routine clinical testing.
The platform includes ReCIVA®, a proprietary sample collection device that can take stable breath samples anywhere, the world’s only commercial Breath Biopsy Laboratory located in Cambridge, U.K., and the Breath Biopsy VOC Atlas, the most extensive catalogue of identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly found on breath. The Company’s technology is protected by over 120 granted and pending patents and has been used in more than 100 research papers.
Owlstone Medical’s Research Products and Services are being deployed at over 100 sites around the world with large pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Actelion (a J&J company), and GlaxoSmithKline, and leading academic institutions. Projects are supported by Breath Biopsy OMNI®, the most advanced solution for reliable end-to-end global breath VOC analysis, which is helping researchers advance biomarker discovery and disease research and maximizing the chances of finding clinically relevant breath biomarkers.
The company has an active portfolio of Breath Biopsy tests in development for the early detection of lung cancer and liver disease, both areas of high unmet clinical need that represent multi-billion dollar market opportunities. In digestive health, clinical tests for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and carbohydrate malabsorption are already on market, and breath testing is emerging as an effective way for patients to monitor and manage symptoms.
