Counsyl Reinvents The Clinical Laboratory To Provide Better Genetic Testing Service
A Series of Forbes Insights Profiles of Thought Leaders Changing the Business Landscape: Ramji Srinivasan, Co-Founder and CEO, Counsyl
When former Wall Street analyst Ramji Srinivasan dropped out of Stanford’s Graduate Business School in 2007, he thought he was leaving to launch a healthcare software company. Almost 10 years later, Ramji is the CEO of a fast-growing clinical laboratory offering a genetic testing service that is helping to improve the lives of half a million patients, providing a new step forward in personalized medicine based on your DNA.
Srinivasan is the co-founder and CEO of Counsyl, a Peter Thiel-backed company that positions itself as providing DNA testing for the important moments in life.
“Our philosophy is simple. We focus on diseases where advanced knowledge makes a difference in health outcomes, whether it’s changing a behavior, pursuing preventative measures, or simply preparing for what lies ahead. We’re providing genetic testing for parents who are trying to have kids to make sure that they either have a healthy pregnancy or they’re able to prepare for a successful birth. That was our flagship product. We recently passed half a million patients tested, so we’re very proud of that line,” says Srinivasan.
“Its sister test is the informed pregnancy screening. With this test we can noninvasively and safely detect disorders like Down syndrome, just through a mom’s blood, dramatically reducing the number of unnecessary amniocentesis.”
“The third test is for inherited cancer screening, which we use to screen for about nine cancers. It’s about 36 genes across breast, ovarian, pancreatic, colon and other cancers. The test results enable preventative screening for people who are at genetic risk for developing cancer over a lifetime.”