BugSpeaks – An innovative Microbiome test kit

March 2, 2022 Innovation Valli Sarvani No comments

Nowadays, many researchers are studying the importance of gut health. Many of these studies emphasised the need for microbiome immunity for the health of a person.

Some studies have shown that the changing lifestyle affects gut health, which leads to many diseases.

To know the relationship between gut health and lifestyle diseases, this Bengaluru company developed an innovative microbiome test kit, BugSpeaks.

Leucine Rich Bio Pvt. Ltd., a Bengaluru company, developed the BugSpeaks kit and launched it in 2019. The company has sold over 5,000 kits since then.

BugSpeaks kit identifies the risk of getting 16 diseases by analysing the microbiome in the human intestine. Some of these include blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis. It even gives suggestions for the improvement of the gut microbiome.

Kumar Sankaran, Prabhath KM, and Dr Debojyoti Dhar are the founders of Leucine Rich Bio Pvt. Ltd. The trio realized that microbiome tests were lacking in the country. They decided to find a solution.

They developed software and algorithms for identifying a microorganism and its association with a disease in its absence. They prepared a list of every microorganism and its relationship with gut health. They started collecting data and evaluated them.

They developed an innovative kit, BugSpeaks, to cater to the needs of Indians. This customized kit is designed for Indians, considering Indian diets.

It is a non-invasive test. It uses certain parameters, like metabolic activity, gene expression etc., to detect the imbalances in the gut microbiome.

Those who want to use this kit needs to take a small quiz after registering with the company and book a test.

The company will send a test kit to the patient to collect a stool sample. From the sample, DNA is extracted. The data is used to analyse the gut microbiome of the person. Based on that, results are interpreted.

The price of the test in the initial days was ₹16,000. But, now it was reduced to ₹9,999.

Image Credit: Bugspeaks Website Screenshot