[DTx Era⑧] Interview with Nam Byungho, CEO of Herings
'Healiary,' a Compound of 'Healing' and 'Diary'
Database of 90,000 Food Items to Relieve Eating Stress for Gastric Cancer Survivors
Targeting Overseas Expansion... Also Managing Stoma Patients
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] "The global trend in cancer treatment is that management for cancer patients should accompany the treatment itself. We aim to make ‘Healiary’ a comprehensive community platform for cancer patient management."
Nam Byung-ho, CEO of Herings, stated in an interview with Asia Economy on the 12th that his confidence in the business grew stronger after attending the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference. CEO Nam said, "At this ASCO, I realized that no matter how good an anticancer drug is, prognosis is unlikely to improve without accompanying nutrition, symptom management, exercise, and psychological approaches," adding, "Although comprehensive management is essential, there is no digitalized platform for this yet, so if we become the leader, I believe there is a path to success."
Starting with a Diet Service for Gastric Cancer Patients... Dreaming of a Comprehensive Platform
The DTx that Herings is focusing on developing the most are Healiary and ‘Ostomy Care.’ Healiary is a compound word of ‘healing’ and ‘diary,’ and it is a diet management service for cancer patients. CEO Nam emphasized that those who have experienced gastric cancer find eating the most stressful. Many have to eat a completely different diet after having part of their stomach removed, but after discharge, it is difficult to receive proper management, leaving most feeling overwhelmed.
To solve this, they have databased about 90,000 types of food and selected about 5,000 foods that patients prefer and find easy to eat. Through this, they created an algorithm that provides personalized diets, such as high-protein diets or foods to avoid, depending on the individual. In actual use, it received positive responses from both medical staff and patients. CEO Nam said, "Medical staff were highly satisfied because they could immediately know the information they wanted," adding, "Based on this, since treatment was conducted, patients also felt that ‘the medical staff are watching everything.’"
Healiary, a comprehensive management platform for cancer patients by Herrings
He ultimately presented the goal of making Healiary a comprehensive platform for cancer patient management. CEO Nam said, "Even if patients go to the hospital for treatment, necessary management will be available within the platform," adding, "We plan to expand the scope beyond gastric cancer to other solid cancers and include not only diet but also medication, exercise, symptom management, and later psychological care and management of comorbidities such as diabetes." Starting this year, medication management will be added, and exercise management is planned to be developed by next year.
CEO Nam emphasized that through this, even if it is not essential treatment itself, it can lead to ‘enhancement of treatment.’ He explained, "When people hear DTx, many focus on treatment, but DTx is a concept that encompasses prevention and management beyond treatment," adding, "Even if it does not directly intervene in treatment, if prognosis improves and quality of life gets better through this, our platform can bring about enhancement of treatment."
He also revealed plans for overseas expansion. Leveraging his experience participating in the Framingham study, a cardiovascular cohort study at Boston University, he plans to actively connect with the U.S. academic community for expansion. CEO Nam said, "We plan to localize and adjust the diet, establish a local corporation, and then officially enter clinical trials around 2024."
Ostomy Patient Management... "DTx Must Encourage Medical Staff Participation"
Ostomy Care is literally a management platform for ostomy patients. Patients with problems in their excretory organs must attach an ostomy to discharge waste while healing. It is known that about 6,000 people newly attach ostomies each year. CEO Nam said, "Ostomy management is difficult, and cases of leakage occur, but it is hard for patients to quickly visit the hospital in such cases," adding, "We are developing this in connection with a home medical care pilot project to enable real-time inquiries and feedback from medical staff as much as possible."
Before entering the DTx industry, he worked as a health statistician and actively collaborated with medical staff. Because of this, he knows better than anyone that for the DTx industry to grow, active participation from doctors and medical staff must be drawn out. CEO Nam said, "A continuous issue in the DTx industry is that doctors are not actively adopting it," adding, "We must emphasize that it does not replace the role of medical staff but helps accurate and efficient treatment to encourage doctors’ participation."
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