2024-07-02 09:00

Qlife participates research trial for people living with PKU and gets positive data

Qlife has participated a research trial at Emory University (USA) focused on young women living with PKU (phenylketonuria) and made Egoo systems available for on-site testing of the PHE test (phenylalanine).

For a couple of weeks during June Qlife was invited to participate Emory’s Metabolic Camp and run a research trial with the aim of making a comparison study of blood data on Egoo compared to data from normal laboratory routines. The outcome was positive since data correlated very well. The research trial was likewise focused on the usability aspect of the young people getting to know and learn how to operate Egoo on their smartphone. This also – as expected – did not present any problems.  

Emory University has released a newsletter from the camp:

Emory Metabolic Camp: old friends and new tech

Professor and leading physician Rani Singh comments in the article among others: “I think Egoo is the most exciting development this year. We have to get this blood process away from the white coats, and make it more convenient and approachable for individuals living with PKU.”

Thomas Warthoe, CEO of Qlife comments: “We were happy to participate this camp and to test Egoo live. We are encouraged to see that data are well aligned – this warrant well for an early launch of the Egoo PHE test. The PKU communities have a lab-grade home PHE test high on their wish-list for many years, and Qlife was founded on the promise to make this happen. It is a rather difficult biochemical test, and our R&D team have worked for years to validate it, so we are pleased to see the good data”.

Understanding PKU

PKU is an inherited deficiency in an enzyme that processes the amino acid phenylalanine. If someone with PKU consumes a standard diet, then over time, phenylalanine (or PHE) accumulates to high levels in their body, leading to neurological damage, intellectual disability and sometimes seizures.