Eric Lefkofksy was recently featured in a video published on the Bloomberg website. He was interviewed about his most recent entrepreneurial endeavor, Tempus. Eric Lefkofksy was driven to join the healthcare industry after recognizing the potential of data and information technology to the healthcare world. He was stunned by how little data was integrated into the healthcare industry, particularly the cancer treatment aspect. He was particularly flummoxed because other industries have adopted more sophisticated technology and implementation of data despite not having the influx of financing.
His first idea with Tempus was to fix the infrastructure of data and how it is used by hospitals and oncologists. The challenge was about getting the clinical data and connecting it to the molecular data. He recognized how important it was to pair the clinical information with the molecular data which drove them to start doing genetic sequencing of cancer patients. This helped the physicians understand the tumor at the molecular level while also making it easier to pair the cancer patient with the most appropriate treatment.
Experiencing the issues first hand with the difficulties of cancer treatment made this project a passion project for Eric Lefkofksy. The company is the second largest sequencing company in the U.S. They provide clinical sequencing for patients when they are being treated which is different from the germline sequencing of 23andMe. The genomic characteristics of sequencing for companies like 23andMe are often more focused on preventing disease by providing people with deep information about what diseases are more prevalent for their genomic information. However, with Tempus, the sequencing is geared towards disease treatment. The sequencing has to be in great depth because they provide targeted therapies like chemotherapy.
The data storing and sorting is made easier by a variety of developments in technology. Not only is it easier to store large amounts of data than it ever was before, but there are also paradigm shifts in other technologies. The machine learning tools and genomic revolution have provided more information and interpretation for cancer care. The costs of genomic sequencing have also been reduced because of the development of technologies in the past decade. The information is then generated at a lower cost that is more sustainable to find molecular data at a greater level. When it is paired with machine learning and artificial intelligence, the company is able to discover patterns to provide physicians with real-time, data-driven decisions. They are able to figure out which drug or therapy will work best for each patient.
Eric Lefkofsky also reveals that Big Technology can have a huge impact on healthcare it will soon be upended by technology. Companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google have all announced initiatives in the health sector. Eric Lefkosky believes this is a positive trend because technology will help people live longer with a better quality of life. This market is a large space where technology can create significant impacts.
Eric Lefkofksy wanted to create a holistic approach to the overwhelming health data that was created from clinical reports as well as the possible molecular data that has been created because of the lower sequencing costs. Machine learning and AI might still be developing, but Lefkofksy believes it is necessary to provide overall insight into a single patient. It requires three kinds of information, namely text, image, and molecular. Though there are many other companies that provide genome sequencing information or clinical data, Eric Lefkofsky believes the issue of cancer treatment can only be solved if the information is integrated under a single roof. Doing so allows the physicians to get a better understanding of the patient as a holistic picture.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about Eric Lefkofsky and the power of Tempus in changing cancer treatment processes.
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