Startup that does genetic tests for Asians gets pre-seed funding for pilot projects

Nalagetics co-founders (from left) Jianjun Liu, Astrid Irwanto, Levana Sani, and Alexander Lezhava / Photo credit: East Ventures

Nalagenetics, a Singapore-based genetic testing company, secured US$1 million in a pre-seed financing round led by East Ventures and joined in by Intudo Ventures and strategic angel investors.

The company plans to use the capital to complete proof-of-value projects in partnership with selected hospitals and healthcare providers in Singapore and Indonesia. The projects seek to help healthcare practitioners make better prescribing decisions through genetic testing.

It also aims to create cost-effective tests tailored to Asian populations, claiming that currently available genetic testing products are skewed towards European populations.

“Adverse drug reactions are responsible for 8 percent of hospital admissions today, wasting about US$30 billion of healthcare resources in the US and a similarly significant amount in Asia,” Nalagenetics said in a statement. “Knowing a person’s genetic makeup can therefore save patients from unwanted – sometimes deadly – adverse side effects.”

Its four founders – Jianjun Liu, Astrid Irwanto, Alexander Lezhava, and Levana Sani – met in 2014 while working at the Genome Institute of Singapore. Nalagenetics was established two years later and has gone through Harvard University’s Venture Incubation Program.

The company is zeroing in on pharmacogenomics, which focuses on how people’s genetic makeup affects their response to different drugs.