Five digital health startups recently graduated from the accelerator programme of the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and 22Health Ventures. Started as a hackathon event, the NUS Medicine Digital Advanced Technology Accelerator (DATA) supports startups to quickly scale their solutions for improving patient outcomes and clinician productivity. 

"It's truly exciting that we are at a point in our journey where our inaugural cohort has now become the foundations of a regional health tech founder community [that] encourages the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. [W]e look forward to building and executing our next phase of innovation, as we deliver on our goals to become a launchpad for regional and global health tech innovation from Singapore," Dr Lowell Leow, co-director of NUS Medicine DATA, said. 

NUS Medicine will be holding another digital health hackathon in February this year, focusing on innovations that prioritise the "silver generation" and value-based healthcare. "These are urgent priorities both in Singapore and the region and around the world," emphasised co-director Dr Zachery Yeo. 

Following their graduation from the programme, Mobihealth News spoke with Professor Heng Chew Kiat and Tan Kae Yuan, co-founders of Health BETA, to learn more about their heart disease risk assessment tool and how they set themselves apart from a competitive pack of innovators. They also shared their plans for the new year. 

Q. When was your company founded and where is it based? Can you briefly describe your technology solution?

A. We founded Health BETA in Singapore in 2017. Our solution is a risk assessment of coronary artery disease (heart disease due to artery blockage), which leverages genomics to produce the Enhanced Polygenic Risk Score (EPRS). The score is enhanced by the incorporation of lifestyle factors such as smoking.

Q. What inspired you to innovate? What are the main healthcare challenges you intend to address?

A. We aim to understand, and then tackle, complex diseases using genetic tests. We currently offer coronary artery disease (CAD) prevention solutions for high-risk populations.

Q. What is your unique technology proposition? How do you set yourself apart from those already offering stroke or atrial fibrillation-focused solutions? 

A. We have pivoted from stroke and atrial fibrillation, and our focus now is Enhanced Polygenic Risk Score (EPRS) for CAD prevention. We are offering the only clinically validated EPRS solution for Asian populations for CAD prevention.

Our product is currently the only solution that combines both genetic and lifestyle factors to predict CAD risk, enabled by a database on Asian ethnicities. Solutions using Western ethnicities database will have a larger margin of errors when used on the Asian population.

Q. Which development stage are you currently at? What can you share with us so far in terms of research (i.e. AI accuracy and effectiveness)? 

A. Our first product has been clinically validated and we have started our second product clinical validation in April 2024. Our first product has attained 83% accuracy with statistical analysis. We are currently establishing AI-based EPRS where we believe the risk prediction model can achieve higher accuracy.

Q. Can you describe your target users and outcomes? Have you secured or are currently under any partnerships with hospitals or health facilities who are testing your solution, and if so, how is it going so far?

A. Our direct target users are doctors, including cardiologists. They can order this test for any patient to improve heart health. This is useful for doctors who treat patients and identify a family history of cardiovascular disease and are therefore at higher risk of a cardiovascular event.

Our solution can help this high-risk group find out their inherited CAD risks and recommend specific lifestyle interventions to reduce their CAD risks. We are working on rolling out our initial pilot programs with two clinics and a hospital in Singapore.

Q. What can you share with us regarding your plans for the new year? Any market commercialisation/expansion targets? Do you have specific plans to offer your own wearable sensor brand or offer technology integration with leading brands? 

A. Our current focus is Singapore and we intend to collaborate with investors, clinicians, and public and private healthcare for expansion into [Southeast Asia] and the United States. In 2025, our plan is to launch our product in the local market here in Singapore. Subsequently, we aim to expand to Southeast Asian countries right after. 

We also have plans to expand to the US, depending on the success of our fundraising.

Our EPRS now connects to Apple Health and Google Health to guide the accuracy of our solution for users.

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Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.