Helio Genomics has announced a new chief executive to scale the company after beginning commercialization this year.
The Irvine-based cancer diagnostics firm appointed Dr. Bharat Tewarie as CEO, succeeding Justin Chen Li, who will remain as president.
The company in January launched its HelioLiver blood-based test, which uses AI to detect and predict liver cancer in people who are at high risk, as a laboratory developed test (LDT).
“The company’s at an inflection point, and now it needs its next CEO,” Li told the Business Journal.
One of Tewarie’s commercial strategies involves using AI-driven marketing and an e-commerce platform.
“The new way of marketing is to use AI tools to quicker find out where your patients are and what really matters to them,” Tewarie told the Business Journal.
Helio is one of Orange County’s better-funded upstart diagnostics firms, having raised more than $180 million to date. It’s the 10th largest diagnostics firm in OC with 35 local employees as of February.
The company’s still awaiting FDA approval and has not disclosed an expected timeline yet.
Two Decades of Healthcare Experience
Li won the Business Journal’s Innovator of the Year Award in 2022 for launching the liver cancer test in partnership with Fulgent Genetics Inc., an El Monte-based cancer researcher with a $658 million market cap (Nasdaq: FLGT).
He joined Helio in 2017 as vice president of finance and business development and became CEO in 2021.
Li said that Helio wanted someone with deep commercial knowledge for its next CEO.
“I was a great startup CEO for the company, but every startup will eventually outgrow its startup CEO and founding team,” he said.
Tewarie brings more than two decades of healthcare experience across biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices.
He held executive roles at multinational companies such as UCB, EMD Serono, Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim. His career has taken him around the world from Germany to Switzerland, and most recently, Boston.
Tewarie is currently based in Boston and is commuting back-and-forth to Orange County.
Prior to Helio, Tewarie had experience being CEO of other startups including Amsterdam-based brain health company Neurocast and Prana Biosciences Inc. in Massachussetts.
Tewarie received his MBA from Webster Leiden Campus and medical training at Utrecht University before making the switch to the commercial side of biotech and pharma in the early 2000s.
“I thought, ‘How can I help even more people as efficiently as possible?’” Tewarie said. “That’s why I joined the pharma industry.”
Entering Pre-Launch Mode
Helio is in pre-launch mode, Tewarie said.
There are two main things that need to be done in order to bring a product to market: testing product safety and working with early adopters of the product to integrate into their daily practices, according to Tewarie.
He said that Helio has completed the first task, having presented its latest data in May from three cancer studies showing that HelioLiver detected a high proportion of patients after six, 12 and 18 months.
“This simulation study demonstrates that a multi-analyte blood-based test is a promising strategy that may improve early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma detection compared to ultrasound, particularly for finding tumors at a small size, when curative therapies would be available,” Dr. Amit Singal, professor of medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, said in a statement.
Helio has been speaking with doctors and patients for its second phase of strategy.
Based on their feedback, the company has added integrated ordering within the electronic medical record system, making it easier for providers to order the test.
Tewarie and Li hinted at a national partnership with one of the largest diagnostics networks that will be announced by the end of this year.
Through the partnership, Helio will be able to reach a third of adults in America annually, according to Tewarie.
