Femto Research Group Co., Ltd.-Thailand bags the Service Innovation of the Year Trophy at the 2022 Healthcare Asia Awards

Their innovative direct-to-customer cancer detection kit served home patients via postage.

Femto Research Group Co., Ltd, a world-class self-funding research-based DNA laboratory company in Thailand, was triumphant at the 2022 Healthcare Asia Awards, earning their Service Innovation of the Year trophy.

The laboratory was recognised for its continued service to cancer patients globally through its direct-to-customer cancer detection kit, the DTC p53Microbiome© (p53DIIC©). The kit has been made available to stay-at-home patients who were restricted during lockdowns.

“The COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 has disrupted our health service innovations because most hospitals and clinics have been closed,” the company spokesperson said. “DTC p53Microbiome© (p53DIIC©) is our Direct-To-customer 2022 innovation. It is a personal health assessment tool that customers worldwide could easily access their infected genomes via their dry saliva,” the company spokesperson added.

Femto explained that the DTC p53Microbiome©’s commercial success had emerged above the disruptive power of the pandemic. According to the company, they have received more than one hundred orders from both local and remote countries in the past six months after its launch. 

The company credits this success to the simplicity of the kit and its innovative approach to collecting samples which took advantage of the availability of postage services open to most customers. This remote process also allowed them to conduct Infected-Genome counselling through email, delivered in a written report, and also conduct health coaching online.

“The DTC p53Microbiome© development started in mid-2020 and launched in May 2021. We replaced the Whatman filter papers with cotton pads (used for make-up removal). And with some modifications, the DTC p53Microbiome© protocol works beautifully,” the company spokesperson explained. “We give patients the instructions on how to collect their saliva on cotton pads. After which, the patients’ dried saliva will be sent to us via postage,” the company spokesperson added.

The laboratory also explained that an important feature that needs to be mentioned was that both the Plasma DTC p53Microbiome© & DBS (dried blood spots), and Saliva DTC p53Microbiome© & DSS (dried saliva spots) can identify the human genomes’ infections at the genus, species, and strains without need of cell cultures or any further characterization. 

Femto further explained that such specific identification of these factors subsequently leads to relevant, and straightforward solutions for patients who may need supplements, lifestyle, and environment modification.

According to the laboratory, this process allows them to identify infections in human genomes for early diagnosis for early infection. It can also identify infections in human cancer genomes and look for those who resist standard cancer medications. Most importantly, the innovative approach is noninvasive and sample collection and shipment from remote countries to Femto Lab© is very convenient.

“To a certain satisfaction, our R&D is now translated to a worldwide commercial healthcare service under the world pressure of COVID-19 outbreak. DTC p53Microbiome© (p53DIIC©) is expected to encourage and improve human health precisely based on each infected genome. In addition, this innovation could make a positive impact on the healthcare industry,” the company spokesperson said.

Finally, Femto Lab© would like to express their gratitude to the Human Genome Project (HGP) led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in collaboration with 20 research centers around the world, and the subsequent NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP). Information from both projects helps scholars reach to accurate health knowledge, useful benefits and easy to access.  This allows Femto Lab© to create health services that benefit humanity at their doorsteps with least obstacles.