Irvine-based Helio Health Inc., which uses artificial intelligence to identify early stages of specific cancers from a blood draw, has won a notable ally.
The diagnostics firm, formerly known as Laboratory for Advanced Medicine, said it will work with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai on a study funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Mount Sinai Health System owns and oversees eight hospitals, a comprehensive cancer center and more than 42,000 employees in New York.
During the clinical trial, about 820 participants with liver disease who are at risk of developing liver cancer will be tested with Helio Health’s DNA assay, as well as MRI and ultrasound scans over a four-year period.
The tests will screen for hepatocellular carcinoma, a liver cancer that is the fastest-growing cause of cancer death in the U.S., according to Helio Health officials.
“This study will help us further validate our Helio Liver test as a better detection, lower cost and less invasive test for early liver cancer screenings,” said Kenneth Chahine, chief executive of Helio Health and a former executive vice president with Ancestry.com.Â
Chahine’s Momentum
Chahine was brought on last November to drive global commercialization for Helio Health’s liver, colon and breast cancer detection tests.
Since then, the company appointed Amazon veteran Aarif Nakhooda chief financial officer and Ancestry exec Benjamin Oyler as chief operating officer.
It also added Christo DeRosa, chief operating officer of U.S. commercial markets at Cigna, to its board of directors.
Helio Health, which is one of Orange County’s best-financed startups with about $120 million in funds, has seven open positions listed on its website including medical director and chief technology officer.
