Latest / Zero Friction / Removing Friction from Diagnostic Disruption
Transcript
- Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Hello there, welcome to the first episode of Zero Friction, Removing Barriers from Revenue Growth. I'm your host, Terry Kuchaluchis, the founder of RevRx AI. Today, I'm excited. I'm joined by Natalia Mammon, the CEO and co-founder of Anywhere DX. We'll discuss her journey in diagnostics, the mission behind her company Anywhere DX, and the challenges of bringing innovation into healthcare. Natalia, we're very excited to have you and welcome to Zero Friction. So, Natalia, tell us a little bit about yourself and the company. NATHALYA Mamane: So I'm the co-founder and CEO of Anywhere DX, where we are truly on a mission to democratize diagnostics by changing access or activating access with affordability to the consumer so that they can test ⁓ when they it, where they need it, anywhere they need it, affordably and excessively. ⁓ ⁓ We have developed this technology in a diagnostic solution ⁓ will allow people to test for a variety of different ⁓ from the comfort of their own home ⁓ when need it and with very, very high sensitivity for reliability. And we're doing in the most challenging way and how I got to building a company that is so challenging. But the most challenging way is to create a test that allows you to, that is consumer based, so that's consumer friendly, but that is at such a low cost that anybody can afford it. And being to do that, being ⁓ able do a lab grade test, a lab grade quality test ⁓ at price tag that we're looking for. ⁓ is really what's proving to be quite challenging, but realistic, and we're making it happen. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Well, that's great. And so you're talking about bringing all this innovation to the diagnostic marketplace, bringing something that's disruptive, that's virtually accepted and can be accessible by everybody. So tell me about your journey into this diagnostic world, because I think this is a really interesting angle. NATHALYA Mamane: So it was interesting because I'm not from this space at all. People always think about like, what are you doing? I actually have two lives and we're gonna, and my sort of like point of change was when I decided to do my MBA in 2019. I started in 2019. So prior to that, I actually was an event planner and worked in, and I had my own business and for about, I was in the industry for about 18 years. I had my own business in event planning for about 13 or 14 years. And just felt that it wasn't, you know, meaningful to me. wasn't impactful to me anymore. I was good at it, but it wasn't just, it wasn't fulfilling me. So I couldn't figure out what to do next. Of course, everybody needs some pivot in their life. I decided mine was a complete 180. And so I decided I'm going to go back to school. me learn and let me see what I've missed out on. was 45 years old I had four kids. One out of the house, the other ones were home, and trying kind of figure it out and say I'm gonna learn and see where that takes me. I actually had no preconceived goals or I had no idea what this was gonna take me but I was just gonna go. And I hadn't been in a classroom for a long time so I really had to ⁓ truly understand what it meant to write a paper all over again, which I hadn't done in a very long time. You don't write paper in event planning. so ⁓ I went back to school and ⁓ of my classes, which is a very typical class in an program is to create a company or an idea of a company and develop it. So ⁓ you learn you apply accounting to your idea. You learn marketing, you apply marketing. That's sort of like how it goes. Very typical, very standard. So I'm here with my team trying to figure out what is going to be our business idea. And I think back at that very moment, I think back about having sat a room of a thousand people hearing the ⁓ founder Waze. And he started off with saying the best ideas come from the biggest pain points. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay. NATHALYA Mamane: And he hated traffic. He just couldn't stand being in traffic. So he figured a solution because his problem is probably a lot of people's problems. So I thought about my life and I thought about, what's my biggest pain point? And we have a lot of pain points, but the one that really triggered me was up and any given ⁓ or weekend and one of my kids being sick and wondering, what is my day gonna look like having to rush ⁓ ⁓ a doctor ⁓ any point in time ⁓ get them tested for whatever it could be ⁓ or at the time they only tested for strep throat. ⁓ testing them ⁓ strep throat and then finding out whether it's strep, I get antibiotics, if it's not strep, I do nothing and this was a complete waste of time. So ⁓ was my biggest pain point because Once disease hits a family of four, it almost like it feels like it never goes away. Like it just stays, it just cycles through every human. only they all came at the same time, but no, ⁓ has to get better and then the other one has to come, right? I remember once when my kids were younger, I had like a bottle of antibiotics for all four of them at the same time. Because you finish one, you get the next one. In any case, so that was my biggest pain point. My biggest pain point is having to through the process of getting my ⁓ evaluated for some common, you know, common illness, generally strep or the flu or anything like that. And I said, you know what? Let's do an atom strep test because if it's not strep, ⁓ else would you treat for? It's a virus and then the virus would just go on its own. ⁓ my idea was a strep test and I thought if I had a strep test as a parent, my life would be so much better. Like, out of control better. So my team agreed to follow that idea and we built the idea. Like in school, we applied accounting, we applied marketing, we applied business development and what would be sales look like and all the partnerships and what the exit would be like. The typical business plan. And I'm like, oh. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Right. NATHALYA Mamane: This is good. Like, I like this. This would be great for me. And, you know, as part of the project, you have to like interview all these people and everybody's like, this would be great. We would love this. So I kind of like validated the market through this project. Now at the same time as I was doing my MBA, my daughter, my eldest daughter was a senior in college at McGill University in bioengineering. And she overheard me at that point, COVID hit, so was working from home. She was home, everybody was home. And she overheard me speaking with my team about this thing. she's like, first she makes fun of me and she's like, mom, what are you doing? Like, this is not going to work. What are you doing? And I'm like, I don't care if it works. just, it just has to be an idea. It doesn't have to work. I'm not the scientist. I just have a good idea. And then she said, She had to do her end of year project and she's like, you know, I have to do an end of year project. I'm going to develop it for you. And so it kind of went there and I'm like, you do you, I do me. Let's just go on different ways. Like I don't have to, I have no idea what you're going to do because you're a scientist and you have no idea what I'm doing because I'm in business, but this is going to be fun anyway. At the end of the year, I had a legitimate business plan, which I thought was legitimate. I mean, of course it's evolved over time. And I had a, and she had a legitimate proof of concept. And I'm like, I think we're onto something. And that's really where things took off. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Correct. Got it? So at that point is when you thought you had a real problem worth solving and a viable product to bring to market. And then you decided, hey, let's now what? Now you have a concept, you have a prototype, you have a lot of will and ambition, right? And now what? NATHALYA Mamane: Yes. Look at A lot of will and ambition, but absolutely no idea what to do with it. So the first thing we do is we knock on the doors of a whole bunch of like mechanical engineering firms and they basically tell us, you don't know what the hell you're doing. We had no idea what we're doing. We didn't know where to start. But what happened was that I ended up applying to my first accelerator. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay. NATHALYA Mamane: which was out of Babson. So I graduated from Babson and I got into this accelerator. And I remember when I got into this first accelerator, I literally thought I won the lottery. Like hands down my first yes. Who knew that after that there would be many nos, ⁓ my first yes. And through this accelerator, you kind of like learn, you kind of get networked ⁓ and you meet people and you meet more people. And then from there and ⁓ Olivia, daughter, ⁓ her is Olivia, she was sort of like, We're trying to figure out what to do. then through meeting one person to another to another, ⁓ met what sort of became my first team. My first team member at the time. And then from there, ⁓ got another member. And then from there, got another team member. And so like, then we were like a cohesive team that kind of like ⁓ led to figuring out we were to sort of like start this thing. And then we did. Yeah. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: And that's cool. So what has been your biggest surprise about the diagnostic industry thus far? NATHALYA Mamane: ⁓ I mean, my biggest surprise is the fact that diagnostic has ⁓ worst reputation in this health life sciences space ecosystem. Like, because I, you know, ⁓ a parent and just as a person, you you know, the first thing we want to know when there is, ⁓ there symptoms, any kind of symptoms is a diagnosis, right? Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay. Why do you say that? Right. NATHALYA Mamane: But what I realized being in here, being in this space and developing this is that the business side of it, right, is the fact that it's, do I explain this? There's a diagnostic and there's a therapeutics. And there's a lot more money being made in therapeutics than there are in diagnostics. So the general population of investors will Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay. Mm-hmm. NATHALYA Mamane: put their bet on a higher return, on a potential higher return than for therapy, than they would for diagnostic. And so then you have all this money being raised in therapeutics. And then diagnostic part is sort of like, it ⁓ hinder it, right? Because if you have the right diagnosis, the most accurate diagnosis, then you ⁓ ⁓ use that therapy. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: for therapy. Right. Right? Okay, so the system is kind of broken ⁓ in some way. NATHALYA Mamane: therapy, right? This system is completely broken. And I was like convinced that like who wouldn't want a better diagnostic solution? Who? I mean, in what world would you just want to just feed people drugs without knowing exactly what they had? But in fact, it doesn't work that way because what they really want is to make money, right? And yes, you have a lot of people who care. But there are stakeholders and the stakeholders want their return and there's a bigger return on therapy than there is on diagnostic. And so I was very surprised and a battle that I am challenged with every single day. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Right? Especially in your quest as you're trying to get your company funded and moving forward. And I'm sure that's part of it. And we'll talk about that challenge in a little bit. So I do have a signature question for you. What is the one lesson that you've learned the hard way that's kind of shaping how you operate you and your organization today? Like something that you've fumbled on or tripped on or a challenge that you've had that, you know, has sort of guided you. NATHALYA Mamane: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. the one thing that I've learned is, you ⁓ I thought that my personality, passion, my grit would of open doors for me when in fact it didn't. you know, that is the reason for this, right? But I really thought that with a great idea and grit and passion that you couldn't even reach, right? Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Make it hard. NATHALYA Mamane: and complete dedication it would get me a little further. door. And it's not so obvious because that formula changes. with everyone, there's no formula. it's not an advantageous thing. So it's a very hard to manage. not. Like I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna misrepresent myself, this is who I am. ⁓ it. I'm from this hospitality space that is so far removed from what we're doing now. And I was afraid of representing myself as somebody who had done that before. So I almost wanted to hide it for a while, but now I'm not doing that anymore. I'm like, I have skills that I've acquired from that, that actually is exactly where I have to be now that will take me as far as I want it, I can take it. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: I agree with you and I think the best part of the story is that you're coming from a place of as a consumer. Right? And I think that's, you know, some of the best ideas are always drawn from the market itself that. So that's a great story. So for our listeners out there ⁓ and they're just now hearing about Anywhere DX and you talked a little bit about NATHALYA Mamane: Yeah! Yeah. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: about what you're trying to accomplish, but what is the real mission between and Anywhere DX and the marketplace and what are you trying to accomplish there? NATHALYA Mamane: So since I started and now through Anywhere DX, so I just want to make sure we understand my first company was called RT Micro DX and then we sort of like restructured and we structured under a new company called Anywhere DX. So this is where we are now. But from the beginning, we sat on three ⁓ very, very important It was accessibility. affordability and reliability. That was, those three things were not movable. They were like set in stone. so Anywhere DX is truly trying to transform how we ⁓ ⁓ challenges ⁓ the marketplace by offering accessible, ⁓ and reliable solutions for the consumer to use for, you ⁓ whole bunch of different indications, one which, which is what we're beach heading right now, is an at-home strep test. So ⁓ that do not need to ⁓ go the doctor to get tested for strep, you do not need to go to the doctors to get diagnosed for strep, or even to get treated for strep. You just need to ⁓ grab kit from your local pharmacy and test home using a very method. The regular method is a throat swab that is invasive. Our method is to use saliva so that it is much more accessible and more usable for the and get that are so reliable ⁓ that ⁓ wouldn't have to redo the test confirmation. And that was very important to me ⁓ because if you're to pay for a test, The last thing you want is a doctor to say, let me run the test again. why don't you come here and also you've already lost the money and the time to buy the test at the pharmacy or have invested that money to buy this test. And then doctor is saying, I don't really trust it. don't you come? So like that was not, like was not at all where I was heading. This is not a screening test. This is a diagnostic test ⁓ where you test at home. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Right. NATHALYA Mamane: and you can get treated from home. And so, and when you say like how do you get treated from home, well it's very important for you to know that we want to, we're offering the entire service. You buy a test, you get tested, or you test yourself, you test your child or your loved one, and then you get connected to a physician that will confirm and that will treat you and diagnose you. it's, we're streamlining the entire process because ⁓ What we realized today is 50 % of the population globally, by the way, not just here, don't have a doctor to go to. They just don't. That's a lot of people. So where do they go? They're forced to go to urgent care to the ER costing them so much more than a regular copay. Today's copays are exorbitant prices because of high deductibles. So we are truly trying to ⁓ slim down. and simplify things to you buy a test for 25 bucks, you test at home, ⁓ get treated ⁓ ever leaving your home. ⁓ that is not so far off from how the pregnancy test started. Right? That's how it started. It used to be that for you to find out if you were pregnant, you'd have to go ⁓ pee in a cup ⁓ your OB, right? Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Right. NATHALYA Mamane: you would have to pee in a cup and then bring it to the pharmacy for them to like test and then the pregnancy test showed up in the 70s early 70s and all of a sudden it like blew up because You can just do it from home and then if you were negative, you could do it again and you can do it again and you can do it again until you are positive enough to call your doctor and say, by the way, I'm positive. ⁓ these tests have just gotten gradually better and better and better. So this is what we are truly trying to get into. this ⁓ be the standard. The standard is you don't have to drag a sick child or a sick person to the doctor. You can just test from home and that goes for... strep throat that goes for UTIs that goes for STIs that goes for any of the hep you know hepatitis D TB there's no reason we couldn't offer people to have more control over ⁓ when get and how to get tested you know it should be on their own terms it shouldn't be on the terms of a healthcare system that's already extremely broken Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Yeah, it's way broken. And so it's so nice that you're finding a way to create accessibility, affordability, and reliability at home, number one. Number two, it looks like you're doing your homework to get connected into some sort of virtual health piece, right? Whether it's the, but people who have health plans today, most of the health, you can get connected through the phone. ⁓ so ⁓ you even have to leave the house anymore, right? And you can even have your NATHALYA Mamane: Exactly. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: You can even have your drugs delivered to your home. So you might not even have to go anywhere, right? So at the end of the day, what a great experience for the patient where they can get tested, get treated, get their therapy on with motion. So what a great opportunity for that. NATHALYA Mamane: And you know what the problem is today with the telehealth platforms that already exist is that they were great if all you have to do is speak to someone, but it's still broken. If you have to get tested, like there are no tools for them to still do this at home. They're going to send you to lab, like a quest, diagnostic or a lab core office for you to get the proper labs. Now for some things it's important, right? For, you know, to find out your cholesterol to get like, there are some tests where I mean, even today, you could probably get your cholesterol at home. will happen. you over time, we just need to bring these solutions closer to the consumer. And, you know, the word, the concept having point of care diagnostics or point of care services is these facilities, point of care. Right? Right. But now we have to get to point of need. And the need is at home. We need to stay at home. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: For convenience. NATHALYA Mamane: I think about all these older, like the older generation that are in know, how, in, you know, in house, senior care, yeah. All the senior, you know, they're in senior care. The poor people, like if they have a UTI, they schlep them out of their home and take them to the doctor to pee in a cup. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: senior care, senior community. Right. NATHALYA Mamane: I mean, that's all they're doing is to pee in a cup. Why can't we test this at the facilities there in their home? It is, it, it, it, I mean, you can hear from my, you can hear from me, like the passion is so real because I see these things every single day. I hear about these things every single day and it breaks my heart because the technology is there for us to use and we just are, and what we're doing is we're using it. And now we just have to just bring it to market. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: What's a great, it's a great pivot point. So, you know, I think that we've talked a lot about the problems you're solving, accessibility. What are the biggest friction points that you're finding as, you know, a CEO and co-founder of a disruptive technology, right? So you probably have a lot of inertia just in general around it, but what, are the big friction points that you're finding getting to market? NATHALYA Mamane: finding capital. Finding capital is the biggest, I think it's the biggest challenge today. We all know everybody's having a hard time finding capital, whether you're in biotech and pharma, but in diagnostic is particularly hard. Again, because of the, know, the misconceived, lower upside, right? I really do think it's in misconception. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay, money, right? Okay. NATHALYA Mamane: So finding capital is very hard. A lot of companies that weren't diagnostic, left diagnostic. And ⁓ a of companies who are non-diagnostics are choosing not to even take that on. ⁓ So the hurdle we're finding because the data is the technology is there, the talent is there ⁓ to develop these ⁓ The infrastructures are there. ⁓ There is no on the side of the physicians. at all. they, mean, I spoke to my kid's pediatrician and she's like, can you make this happen yesterday? They're, they're, they're happy to see their patient, you know, like, like this, ⁓ virtually and not have all these sick kids in their, you know, in their waiting room. like breeding all these germs, like the friction is not in the marketplace. It's not even in the ecosystem. The Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Right. So regulatory pathways are, if you had the money, all that stuff is gonna fly through regulatory, the whole thing too, as well, right? NATHALYA Mamane: Yeah, there's no friction at the side. There's no friction on the ⁓ side with the physicians, with the patients, with the parents. There's no friction. We are not seeing any friction. And I can't even tell you there will not be any frictions with those labs ⁓ I could even ⁓ that these labs would want to acquire some of these tests and then have it part of their offering. future is ⁓ in that direction, ⁓ the ⁓ needed to get to reach that kind of the future milestones ⁓ still very limited. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Got it. So when you look ahead, like what are you most excited about? Even though I know that, you we're, still got to work through the challenge of getting the funding and getting the money, right? And getting the capital. But what are you most excited about right now today and moving forward? Tell me. Yeah. Like today. NATHALYA Mamane: today. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: figuratively today, but like, you know, moving forward. NATHALYA Mamane: Right. So we started a crowdfunding campaign with the, with the goal of, with two goals in mind. The first one is to raise capital, but mostly is to show early, the early, the signs of early adoption with parents who want this. ⁓ And so my campaign now ⁓ is finding, you know, parents who are willing to invest $150, not a lot, $150 into this crowdfunding campaign ⁓ an early adopter. And what I'm excited about today is that these parents are, it's resonating. They're hearing it and excited about it. And so when I speak to parents about it and ⁓ I'm you know, we're just looking, ⁓ yes, in. Right? Count me in. And it's not always just 150. It could be a thousand. It could be 850, whatever. So excited about the fact that I'm not, I'm not getting through to the investors, but I'm getting the investors that are their true customers. So when I started this, I started as my own pain point. And now I am speaking to parents to whom it's a pain point as well. And that they are like, they want in, they want a piece of this action. So that's what I'm excited about today. I'm excited and no matter how hard and challenging this to build this business is that, you know, I'm excited to see one day our solution on the shelves of a pharmacy and seeing how, you know, we are kind of equalizing the, you know, the playing field in this diagnostic space. ⁓ everybody can have the same kind of access. That's what I'm most excited about. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Got it. So what does success look like for Anywhere DX like the next few years? NATHALYA Mamane: I just need to see it in CVS. If I see a box in CVS, that will be success. And by the way, by the time I see that box in CVS, this company may not be mine, right? I very much aware that this that I'm building with my co-founder may not mine. But if it's there, we got it Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay. Okay. That's great. What a good, that's a great sort of mission and like a North Star for you to have for sure. Where can our listeners, you've obviously got a website, you've got a WeeFunder web ⁓ page as Any ⁓ other ways our listeners can learn more about DX? ⁓ NATHALYA Mamane: Yeah. I mean our website is good. WeFunder has a great video on there. They can follow me on LinkedIn. I post things all the time. But you know, we created a great video on WeFunder and it really gives you a very clear path and it gives a clear understanding of what we're building, what it's gonna look like, how it's gonna be connected and all the points that it's going to hit. So I really recommend that people see video and it kinda sells itself like... It doesn't take much to kind of opt in. It's $150 to opt in. You would get first access to StrapTest as soon as they're ready to go. So that's where they can find me. Terry Coutsolioutsos/RevRx AI: Okay, well great. Well, Natalia, I really appreciate your time today. It was wonderful being with you. You just bring such great energy and I'm sure our listeners will and viewers will find a way to connect with you soon. So thank you so much. NATHALYA Mamane: Well, thank you so much for having me.