Monitoring momentum: Award winner Trajan to further personalised approach with more services

Trajan Group Holdings develops, manufactures, and sells analytical and life science products, that enables measurement in the food, environment, and pharmaceutical sector.

Last year, under the Trajan Nutrition business unit, it developed a dry blood spot test​ that only requires a finger prick to measure and analyse a range of nutrients and compounds. Targeted at healthcare and personalised nutrition companies, it is anticipated to replace costly, time-consuming and invasive blood testing.

Now, the company is intending to expand its reach to the end-consumer through the personalised preventative space.

In April this year, Trajan acquired the assets of MyHealthTest, a company offering dried blood spot biomarker monitoring for personalised health and corporate wellness programs.

Trajan Nutrition was combined with MyHealthTest to form Trajan Analytical Services to provide additional monitoring services.

Belinda Whittle, general manager at Trajan Analytical Services, said: “The vision of the company was to move further into the personalised preventative space. Trajan Analytical Services allows us to reach the end customer rather than just servicing another lab​.” Whittle was previously general manager at MyHealthTest.

“Our strategy is to provide monitoring services where individuals can track key risk markers to measure the effect of diet, exercise, supplementation and lifestyle changes.”​

The company has launched an omega fatty acid testing service, utilising the dry blood spot sample collection. It will analyse fatty acid biomarkers primarily for heart health but also early pregnancy for assessing omega-3 status in relation to risk of preterm birth.

With the omega fatty acid monitoring service, it can be used as part of a research study, for personalised nutrition businesses or in a healthcare setting. For instance, individuals can collect samples remotely from home, as part of a research study or with assistance from their health service provider.

Its dry blood spot technology allows users to be tested more safely and less invasively so samples can be shipped in the mail, without cold transport to the lab for the biomarker assessment.

As the new general manager for Trajan Analytical Services, Whittle’s priorities lies in expanding the number of dried blood spot test services that individuals can use to track and monitor their health over time, so that they can implement diet and lifestyle changes.

“We are working towards a new monitoring service focused on healthy heart which will be offered in early 2022 and will include markers for diabetes, inflammation and cardiovascular disease risk​,” Whittle said.

Reflections on the award​

At the NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2021​, Trajan emerged as the winner in the personalised nutrition category.

Whittle commented on the win: “I see the awards as a great way to recognise leaders in the field and being named as a recipient of the NutraIngredients-Asia Award for the personalised nutrition initiative with Trajan’s biomarker monitoring service highlights the company's position in this space​.”

According to her, the personalised nutrition industry has evolved significantly over the last couple of years, “there's an increasingly focus on personal wellness and advances in technology are facilitating growth in the area​.”

“COVID-19 has also had a significant impact with people wanting remote ways to monitor and assess their health, as seen in the rise of telehealth services​.”

Whittle also observed an increase in companies offering diet and wellness programs, healthy meal kits, personalised supplements, some based on online health questionnaires and a subscription model.

“Another growth area is the increasingly number of health apps and wearables, such as smartwatches for monitoring diet, nutrition, exercise and biometrics such as weight and blood pressure. There are companies emerging that provide at home testing or monitoring services like ourselves​.”

The firm priority lies in personalised preventative healthcare, in line with growing awareness of chronic diseases and disease prevention.

“People ​are beginning to realise many of the major chronic diseases are preventable with improvements to diet, lifestyle and exercise​,” Whittle said.

“Increasing, scientific measurement and data is slowly being recognised as a personalised tool to monitor and improve health outcomes​.”

Trajan’s strategy is to focus on “critical needs in the community for personalised wellness monitoring for chronic disease prevention​.”

Trajan also has a blood sample collection device called the Hemapen to improve accuracy of analysis.

Recently, Trajan listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and is actively working on potential acquisitions including those in the precision liquid handling, data analytics, automation, chromatography consumables and consumer portals space.