WA’s Metabolic Health Solutions is on a mission to test the world’s metabolism
Metabolic Health Solutions (MHS) is a digitally-enabled medtech company founded in WA in December 2015 with a mission to revolutionize the way metabolic health is measured, monitored, and manage. The company is founded on a belief that empowering patients and practitioners to understand metabolic health is a key step in personalising effective, sustainable treatment plans that will produce positive long-term health outcomes like weight loss, reduced medication, and improved fitness.
The company has a special focus on obesity and associated chronic diseases (including heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and some forms of cancer).
Their flagship technology, ECAL, is a portable metabolic monitor designed for clinical practice that is a registered medical device in Europe and Australia. This shoebox-sized device provides an assessment of an individual's metabolic profile through a quick and easy breathing test in a clinic that is then used by a practitioner to inform their advice and treatment plan.
“Everything we do is to inform the practitioner about how to personalise their approach”, said MHS’s CEO and founder John Wright.
The company is currently developing an AI assisted digital platform called ENABLE™, which leverages an individual patient’s data to provide personalised nutrition and activity advice that they can access in an app.
Mr Wright says that the platform is a way to better deliver decision support to clinicians and to communicate targeted information for patients to help them on their health journeys by building engagement and improving treatment adherence.
“We want to ensure that the patient understands and can have access to background information that is curated by the clinician. What we want to do is make sure it’s specific, it’s relevant, and it’s timely,” said Mr Wright.
Earlier this year, MHS was selected as one of five Australian digital health companies to participate in the ANDHealth+ commercialisation program. The program is providing the companies up to $3.75 million in equity-free funding thanks to the support of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). Beyond financial assistance, MHS is being assisted by a dedicated project support team and will have access to a world-class network of experts to help them scale their business globally.
For MHS, this opportunity is particularly strategic, as it enables the company to focus on creating market strategies to enter the UK, following their trip earlier this year to London Tech Week as part of the WA delegation (led by Invest and Trade WA). The ANDHealth+ program represents a substantial boost to MHS's efforts to bring personalised metabolic healthcare to a global audience.
Notably, MHS also received an Innovation Booster Grant from the WA Government in mid-2023 and is a founding member of the Springboard Medical Manufacturing Alliance that was awarded $2.43 million from the WA Government Investment Attraction Fund.
MHS's commercialisation journey has been influenced by the support and opportunities provided by the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub, including participating in delegations, attending educational and networking events, taking on interns through the iPrep Biodesign program and receiving strategic advice and guidance on funding applications.
The company was featured at the WA booth at AusBiotech 2022 (the booth was a collaborative effort between the Hub, Life Sciences WA, and the WA Government), providing valuable exposure and networking opportunities with delegates from the national and international biotech community. The Hub was a key facilitator of WA’s presence at AusBiotech, facilitating WA innovators to attend and be showcased at the conference across the booth, program, and other networking and value-add events.
In May, MHS joined the WA AusMedtech delegation in Adelaide, which was led by Hon Stephen Dawson, WA Minister for Innovation & the Digital Economy; Science; Medical Research and supported by the Hub. Whilst at AusMedtech, MHS presented the ENABLE™ Platform to an expert panel at the Early-Stage Innovation Forum, a key focal point of the conference program.
In addition to these key events, the Hub has provided guidance and support for MHS. The company has received valuable advice related to funding and commercialisation strategies, in particular market entry, capital raising and valuation. Furthermore, MHS received consultation from ANDHealth through the WA Connected Health Commercialisation Initiative, a collaboration initiative designed to accelerate digital health commercialisation in WA.
The Hub’s Director Dr Tracey Wilkinson knows that helping WA companies reach commercialisation milestones means helping in numerous areas.
“It’s one thing to have a great idea, but how are you going to develop it, how are you going to access suppliers and partners, do trials, get funding, and find your market?
“The Hub is here to connect great ideas and innovators to partners, networks, opportunities, and training to help get you to that next level as well as give you the feedback that is vital to creating a successful product,” said Dr Wilkinson.
Mr Wright believes WA life science companies often need to punch well above their weight to be heard in WA’s resource rich state and the work of the WA Hub is making a difference.
“MHS have greatly benefited from the advice (often very frank) and advocacy of the WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub team in WA, particularly through the tireless work of Tracey, Rebekah and Kevin to develop an ecosystem for early-stage companies like MHS."
Mr Wright adds that one of the key ways the Hub has enhanced their business practices is their external communication approach.
“Our fundamental proposition hasn’t changed. Our ability to communicate it to people that might have money has – the Hub’s helped us do that,” said Mr Wright.
Dr Wilkinson agreed, saying, “One of the best ways for the WA sector to thrive is for us to all learn to better communicate our value.
“Communicate better to business partners, government, funders, patients. Whether it’s a news article, a funding application, or a presentation at a conference, communicating not just your ‘what’, or your ‘how’, but also your ‘why’ is vital to bringing innovations like the ECAL and ENABLE to the world,” said Dr Wilkinson.
Ultimately, MHS hopes that one day metabolic tests are as common as a blood pressure test, and that personalised lifestyle solutions can form a key pillar of society’s approach to healthcare treatment for metabolic health conditions that require weight loss.
The Hub looks forward to continuing to support WA companies like MHS to improve healthcare outcomes and enhance capabilities in the state.