AUSTIN, Texas — Nimbus Healthcare founder Dr. Jobby John's journey into personalized medicine was just that.
“Two years ago, I started seeing these bald spots and I couldn’t understand what was going on,” Dr. John said. “That’s when I started diving into what alopecia is and how prevalent it is, etc.”
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As a compound pharmacist and owner of Lake Hills Pharmacy, the UT-Austin graduate had an out-of-the-box idea. By finding the genetic profiles and blood biochemistry from home genetic testing kits, his team could find FDA-approved solutions to issues such as hair loss and hormone imbalances for a fraction of the cost.
In the simplest of explanations, the soon-to-be 36-year-old medical expert says patients would be paying hundreds instead of potentially thousands of dollars for specific diagnosis and treatments to health concerns.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach like you see out there,” Dr. John said. “It’s basically everything is tailored to an individual just like you’d bake a cake.”
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Spanki Mills-Farris is one of millions of Americans dealing with hormone imbalance or hair loss daily, according to the National Institutes of Health. The brand manager and Central Texan, like many others, says she couldn’t afford the personalized health care needed to answer questions about the various symptoms she was experiencing in her late 30s.
“I was tired. I felt like you could hear it in my voice. I was just not right,” Mills-Farris said. “I went to one doctor after another, and they would say things were off, maybe give me a few prescriptions. I wouldn’t feel any better or different.”
Dr. Tracy Neal, who’s part of Nimbus’ telehealth team, says the health industry is just beginning to provide affordable personalized treatments, and hopes this will be a primary focus moving forward.
“Many doctors haven’t done that, haven’t gone back and learned,” Dr. Neal said. “We’re stuck in the old system of 5-to-10-minute office visit, a quick look at lab work and not a lot of time to do personalized one-on-one medicine.”
While the company is just starting to take off with around 300 male and female patients and 1.5 years of data, the early returns have been positive.
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“It was a thorough consultation and explanation on things that have been overlooked all these years,” Mills-Farris said. “I feel so hopeful finally. I’m starting to see things change for me.”
Dr. John hopes his personal journey is a blueprint not about making dollars and cents, but one that simply makes sense for Texans in need of answers.
“A lot of times, patients go from one appointment to another and have to come back and get tinkered with,” Dr. John said. “There’s a lot of trial and error. You can avoid that by going a more personalized route.”