The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising startups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the 18th installment. -- Ed.


As genome sequencing costs have drastically dropped in the past few years, numerous startups have begun offering direct-to-consumer DNA analysis services through which individuals can learn about their genes and related health markers with a saliva sample.

Finding out about one’s genetic makeup certainly sounds interesting. But to get more people on board, there must be good reasons for why someone should receive a DNA analysis.

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A South Korean health technology startup has set out to address this question of “so what?” that has often undermined the utility aspect of personalized DNA analyses, with a service model of presenting concrete benefits and a clear-cut action plan to the end-user.

Genoplan was founded in 2014 by 37-year-old CEO Brian Kang, a US-trained medical sciences expert and a former employee at the Samsung Genome Institute. He set out to provide affordable, fast and practical DNA testing services for the public.


Connecting through genes

So, how does it work? Genoplan collects a saliva sample from individual customers and analyzes the DNA contained in it. The results can be viewed online within around five days, which is faster than competing services that typically take four to six weeks to deliver results.

On top of speed, the Korean startup provides guidance on what to do with the genetic makeup once customers find out about it.

“We don’t stop at just informing people about their genotype and phenotype, but go on to connect consumers with appropriate products and service that best complement their unique genetic dispositions,” Kang said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.

To achieve this, Genoplan has adopted a business-to-business-to-consumer, or B2B2C, model.

Genoplan sells its saliva collection kits and analytic solutions directly to partner companies, instead of directly selling its services to lay consumers, Jang said. The services are sold as a package to partners at 30,000 won ($28) to 90,000 won per unit.

Then the partner firms are the ones that offer the DNA testing kits to consumers, usually in a bundle with their own products.

Genoplan currently has 12 such partners, including Dr. PNT, a personalized dietary supplements brand under GC Wellbeing, cosmetics brand Dr. G, gene-based lunchbox maker Stay Jungle and ING Life Insurance Korea.

Its partners’ customers send their saliva kits to Genoplan’s lab, where the DNA is extracted and checked for certain markers.

For a health supplements brand, this could include genes associated with a person’s blood glucose levels, caffeine metabolic rate or abdominal obesity.

A personalized cosmetics brand, on the other hand, would request Genoplan to look into genes related to moisture retention, ability of sebum cntrol, propensity to acne, photoaging and so on.

Consumers can view the results on Genoplan’s website and be directed toa given brand’s related products and services that are best suited to their unique genetic predispositions.

Internal surveys have shown that many customers have found the data useful and end up purchasing the recommended products, the CEO said.

“I believe we’re the only company worldwide which has managed to create a seamless business-to-business-to-consumer DNA analysis service model,” he added.

As of now, Genoplan can check for 100-200 different types of genetic health indicators. But more items can be easily added to accommodate new partner demands, the CEO said.

As its database grows, the startup also hopes to build a networking platform where people with similar phenotypes can share and recommend medications or supplements that worked well for them. 

Time to go global

Though Genoplan’s business is local for now, going global is also on the agenda. The startup is in talks with local partners to bring its business model to Japan this year. And next year, it hopes to branch out to other countries in Asia, Kang said.

Eventually, the Korean health-tech startup wants to venture into the medical diagnostics segment. In the future, the firm hopes to start providing DNA-based liquid biopsy services to hospitals.

Right now, many cancer patients undergo tissue biopsies -- in which doctors harvest a tissue sample to check if a cancerous tumor has been fully removed. But sometimes tissue biopsies cannot be performed on certain patients due to the likelihood of complications.

This process could be replaced with a liquid biopsy -- examining samples of intravenous fluids like blood or urine -- to detect signs of circulating tumor DNA, Kang said. Based on this information, doctors could find out whether or not the cancer has relapsed.

“Our vision is to bring the benefits of genetic information to everyone. To do this, we continue to work on finding out how genetic information can be best used to benefit people,” Kang said.

So far, Genoplan has raised around 5 billion won in Series A funding from Softbank Ventures Korea, Samsung Ventures and Wonik Investment Partners. It has also held crowdfunding initiatives via Wadiz.

The company is now in talks with investors for its Series B funding round, according to Kang.

By Sohn Ji-young  (jys@heraldcorp.com)