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Welcome to the Empowered Patient Podcast with Karen Jagoda.  This show offers a glimpse into the latest innovations in applying generative AI, novel therapeutics and vaccines, and the evolving dynamics in the medical and healthcare landscape. One focus is on how providers, pharmaceutical companies, and payers are empowering patients.  In addition, conversations often focus on how technology is empowering providers, care facilities, pharmaceutical companies, and payers to improve patient outcomes and reduce friction across the healthcare landscape.  Popular Topics Include: Virtual and digital health Use of AI, ML, and robots for clinical and administrative purposes  Value-based healthcare  Precision and stratified medicine Next-generation immuno, cell, and gene therapies Vaccines for infectious diseases and oncology Biomarkers and diagnostics Rare diseases MedTech and medical devices Clinical trials  Population health Chronic conditions l Clinician and staff burnout Smart hospitals The audience includes life science leaders, researchers, medical professionals, patient advocates, digital health entrepreneurs, patients, caregivers, healthcare solution providers, students, journalists, and investors.

Aug 20, 2025

Andrea James, Chief Financial Officer at iMDx, is focused on expanding access to innovative molecular diagnostic testing staring with a test for monitoring transplanted organ health.  The test measures the donor-derived cell-free DNA which can indicate the need for drugs to target organ rejection before invasive procedures are required. The company is developing a kit-based version of the test that can be run by hospitals rather than relying on centralized labs, to increase access to this diagnostic and improve transplant outcomes.

Andrea explains, "We changed our name on June 17th from OncoCyte, as you had just referenced, to Insight Molecular Diagnostics Inc. We're now going by iMDx, and our mission is to democratize access to novel molecular diagnostic testing to improve patient outcomes."

"We actually have three pieces of IP, intellectual property, and we are initially commercializing in transplant. So we measure a biomarker called donor-derived cell-free DNA, don't get too hung up on it. That's a lot of words. It basically looks for fragments of DNA in the blood, which can indicate transplanted organ damage and therefore rejection. And so that is where we are commercializing first."

"What's really interesting is that the innovations in this space are, okay, so let's say you've been on dialysis, that's a really tough life. You finally get your transplanted kidney, and now let's say your body is starting to reject it. You're one of those one in five who were a match, your kidney was a match for you, but then your immune system is attacking it anyway. That used to be almost a death sentence." 

"Your options there were you're going to lose your kidney, you go back on dialysis, or you lose your life. But now there are therapies that are coming out to treat antibody-mediated rejection, or AMR, and our test is being used to monitor the efficacy of those therapies."

#iMDx #MolecularDiagnostics #Molecular #Diagnostics #Healthcare #PrecisionMedicine #Genomics #Decentralized #LiquidBiopsy #DigitalPCR #Transplant #Localization #Labs #PointOfCareTesting #RapidCare #Democratization

imdxinc.com

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iMDx