DayTwo open for business as science expands and investment secured

The company also recently announced it had secured a $12 million investment from Seventure Partners’ Health for Life Capital fund, as part of a series A round of fundraising. Israel-based DayTwo offers a personalized nutrition recommendation service through an app, with information based on machine-learning algorithms that integrate personalized gut microbiome data. Lihi Segal, CEO and Co-Founder at DayTwo, told NutraIngredients-USA: “DayTwo is open for business! For 2017, we are in a “soft launch” or “Beta” period as we are refining features and improving the consumer experience. Anyone may order their own kit today at DayTwo.com .” Science The company exclusively licensed technology developed by Professors Eran Segal and Eran Elinav from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The machine-learning technology is based on a five-year research project that was published in Cell , and covered by NutraIngredients in 2015 . This has now been followed by another paper in Cell Metabolism , which examined how processed white bread and artisanal whole-wheat sourdough affect the body. The results showed that different people respond differently to the types of bread consumed, which is linked to their microbiomes. “The study validates our prior clinical research published in Cell two and a half years ago, that proved glycemic response is personal and individualized and that generalized recommendations do not work because they are not accurate,” Lihi Segal told us. “The new study also validates that we can accurately predict glycemic response via the microbiome alone, without consideration of other health factors or clinical data. In addition, the new study gives us a deeper dive and higher fidelity to predict personalized glycemic response not just to bread alone, but different types of bread.” The study included 20 participants, all of whom normally consumed about 10% of their calories from bread. Half were assigned to consume processed, packaged white bread for a week (about 25% of their calories), while the other 10 participants consumed an increased amount of whole-wheat sourdough. This was followed by a two-week washout period before the participants crossed over to the other group. “The findings for this study are not only fascinating but potentially very important, because they point toward a new paradigm: Different people react differently even to the same foods,” said Eran Elinav, a researcher in the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute and another of the study’s senior authors. “To date, the nutritional values assigned to food have been based on minimal science, and one-size-fits-all diets have failed miserably. These findings could lead to a more rational approach for telling people which foods are a better fit for them, based on their microbiomes.” New investment The company also recently announced the completion of $12.0 million Series A round of financing through Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Seventure Partners’ Health for Life Capital fund, Mayo Clinic, co-founder Marius Nacht, and other private investors. The investment brings DayTwo’s total funding to $17.0 million. Proceeds from the financing will be used to expand the company’s product, engineering, and data science teams in Tel Aviv, Israel and San Francisco, California. In addition, DayTwo will deepen its clinical research with the Mayo Clinic and other gut-microbiome clinical research partners. Lihi Segal explained: “The Mayo Clinic, a global leader in the research and treatment of diabetes, diabetics, and pre-diabetics, chose to invest in DayTwo to advance our clinical research and to partner on bringing evidence-based solutions for the diabetic community to market. “The Mayo study (in process) validates the existing research conducted by the Weizmann Institute that included over 1,000 subjects, and adds another 500 subjects to the total clinical trial data set. In addition, the Mayo study enables DayTwo to continue to refine and train our machine learning algorithm to make our state-of-the-art predictive ability even more accurate with specific foods and food combinations. “The more data we get from the Mayo trial, the more our algorithm improves its accuracy and predictability. As with all science and machine learning at-large, our offering is ever-improving and iteratively more accurate as we take in more data.” Watch the video below for more information about the DayTwo personalized nutrition app. Source: Cell Metabolism Volume 25, Issue 6, Pages 1243-1253.e5, doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.05.002 “Bread Affects Clinical Parameters and Induces Gut Microbiome-Associated Personal Glycemic Responses” Authors: T. Koremv, et al.

DayTwo open for business as science expands and investment secured

Personalized health player DayTwo has announced a new study deepening our understanding of how the microbiome can influence glycemic response.

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