At the same time, it is also designing a medical device to assess sarcopenia risk in hospital settings, as well as identifying a list of genes that could be licensed to pharmaceutical companies working on sarcopenia medications.
Sarcopenia was included in the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization in 2016 but was only recognized as a disease in South Korea in 2021, Dr. Lee, an orthopedic specialist at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, told NutraIngredients.
The condition is characterized by a progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function associated with aging.
According to a study published in the Journal of Bone Metabolism last May, South Korea’s prevalence of sarcopenia was 6.8%, with a greater risk among older adults.
Among men, the prevalence of sarcopenia was 5.5% in the 60 or older age group, 9.6% in the 70 or older age group, and 21.5% in the 80 or older age group. Among women, the prevalence of sarcopenia was 7.9%, 10.5% and 25.9%, respectively.
Yet, awareness of sarcopenia remains low in South Korea with limited health data, Dr. Lee said. As such, he saw this as a blue ocean market with untapped opportunities.
“These days, many people are very interested in anti-aging and longevity. They are searching for health supplements, exercise regimes, and participating in marathons that help them achieve their health goals,” he said.
“However, the term ‘sarcopenia’ itself is not as popular. As such, we have introduced our company along the lines of longevity and anti-aging to help people better understand our company.”
Biobytes was also one of the five start-ups that had pitched to Haleon during the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) held from Oct. 29 to 31.
The sarcopenia risk questionnaire
Designed as an online questionnaire, the sarcopenia risk tool assesses grip strength and muscle mass based on a person’s height and weight, the number of falls in the past year, and medical check-up data.
Known as Myotest, the questionnaire produces a muscle health report within 10 seconds and is said to yield an accuracy rate of 95%.
The risk assessment is based on an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that runs through a biobank containing anthropometric and blood sample data from 1,500 South Korean patients with an average age of 71. Of these, 900 datasets came from the government database, and the remaining 600 were collected from patients who visited Dr. Lee and his team.
The cut-off point is set at 49.5%, where anything greater is assessed as having a high risk of sarcopenia.
The questionnaire allows individuals to take sarcopenia risk tests easily without using complex, expensive diagnostic equipment such as computed tomography (CT) scan or Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, said Dr. Lee, who is also the director of the Korean Society of Sarcopenia.
The test has already been introduced at four university hospitals and 30 clinics, where doctors will follow up by recommending physical exercise, taking health supplements developed by Biobytes, or performing further tests such as a DEXA scan or sonography.
The supplement
Biobytes has developed a muscle health supplement, known as Biact Tab, in collaboration with orthopedic surgeons, pharmacists, and nurses.
Manufactured by OEM firm FromBIO, it contains turmeric extract, which is certified by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for supporting muscle strength.
Other active ingredients include leucine, L-glutamine, taurine, and branched-chain amino acids.
Dr. Lee said the formulation was developed to provide therapeutic doses.
“Based on our search on products sold in South Korea, most companies use just one or two ingredients in low amounts, but we offer therapeutic ingredients at the maximum dose based on scientific literature,” he said.
The supplement is currently available for sale in general hospitals, including Wonju Medical Center, pharmacies such as Gwangjang Onnuri Pharmacy, partnering clinics, and on the company’s online store and Naver store.
Medical device
The company is also designing a motion recognition-based Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score prediction model that could be used in hospitals.
The SPPB is a test that assesses physical function in older adults, including balance, gait speed, and chair stand performance.
To do so, the company is developing a device that can automatically assess SPPB using video-based measurements and detect body landmarks based on pose estimation.
Introducing this model could help alleviate the manpower crunch seen in hospitals.
“The SPPB score is a key process to assess muscle function, and it is usually assessed by doctors or nurses, which makes it a labor-intensive process,” said Dr. Sol Lee, chief data officer at Biobytes.
“This is why we have developed an automatic algorithm to predict the SPPB score,” she said.
Biobank, gene list, and drug discovery
The company is also working on identifying a list of genes associated with sarcopenia, with the eventual goal of licensing it to pharmaceutical companies to develop sarcopenia medications.
It has already started building a multi-center sarcopenia biobank to obtain longitudinal clinical and biomarker data from 3,000 patients by 2027.
Dr. Lee also hopes to introduce the Myotest and the sarcopenia biobank model overseas, including working with hospitals in the United States and Singapore, to make the results generalizable to populations beyond South Koreans.
