This post is also available in: Danish

The Danish healthcare sector helps the Danes when they become ill. But to Huram Konjen, CEO of the startup Dianox, that is not good enough. Instead, he and his team want to improve the health of the Danes before they become ill with help from saliva samples and dieticians.

---

This article is published in collaboration with Danish Life Science Cluster.

---

The startup Dianox is busy right now.

In a short matter of time the product that they have worked on for so long is going to launch. The product is planned to help prevent its users from getting ill.

Dianox will do so with the help from saliva samples. That sample can provide answers which only doctors were able to provide earlier on after making a blood sample. But now Dianox can do the same by analyzing saliva and the results from the test will for instance show you hormone- and vitamin levels. In the future the plan is to test for the risk of more normal diseases like diabetes – before it occurs.

Hormones and vitamins levels are something that few people get tested today. And if they do, there is probably a reason why it needs to be checked. But according to Huram Konjen, it should be possible for everyone to get the test.

An effort before it is too late

When the laboratory receives the result from the test it is communicated to the user online. Here you will also have access to a dietitian that can give advice on how to ensure the ideal level of vitamin and hormones.

If a level is too low, you will get advice on how to raise the level again. This will prevent that a low level of for instance vitamin D evolves to a bigger problem in the future.

“I think the Danish healthcare system helps its citizens too late in the process. There is too little focus on prevention. The harm is done when the citizens get help from the system. With our solution we can act before the problem occurs,” says CEO of Dianox, Huram Konjen.

What makes this product unique is that Dianox can test a variety of different levels through saliva, and that makes it possible to sell the product directly to the users because it is simple to use. It will cost 99 kroner per month, and that price level is intended to attract a Danish audience which is not accustomed to pay for health with money from their own pocket.

New solutions within the healthcare system are also a focus area for the WHINN-conference, where this article will be available for the attendants. Here one track will focus on disruption of the health care system and how to put the individual in center of the system.

Dianox’ idea has attracted attention from other actors in the life science environment. Haleon, which is the consumer company of big pharma-players like Pfizer and GSK, has incorporated Dianox into their Health Studio which has given the startup better possibilities to scale to solution to other nations in the world.

“This solution is something that has the potential to solve problems across borders if it becomes a success. In that perspective it’s wonderful to receive attention from a big player like Haleon,” says Konjen.

Small adjustment with big gain

The goal with the company is that people no longer have to be worried when talking about their health.

“If you use our product, you’ll have insights into some of the most essential levels in your body, and our hope is that that will give a sense of calm for people,” he says.

“Normally it’s very little things you need to change to ensure that your body is in balance. Don’t look at your phone as the first thing in the morning. Drink a glass of cold water and stretch your body. If you do so, you’ll experience a big difference. That’s the type of small adjustments that we will help people to implement into their lives.”

Great help from generous people

To reach the point where the company is at today, they needed to research a big number of scientific articles. And that has required help from the life science environment.

“The people in the life science environment are incredibly generous. At one point we researched a lot into infection diseases, and I spoke for a long time with a leading scientist in Hepatitis B who gave me a lot of advice and send me a lot of articles,” Konjen tells.

“It was very valuable for us and that type of help is essential to get a good start,” he adds. Dianox is also a member of Danish Life Science Cluster, where companies can get access to knowledge from universities and companies to help get new knowledge in play.

“Our goal is that our users are just as healthy when they’re 80 as when they were 20,” says Konjen, who will launch the product in the near future.