Transforming Diabetes Care: Hashem Aliedeh on Innovative Glucose Monitoring and Senior Health Management
What if you could transform the lives of millions by making health management not just simpler, but also smarter? On this episode of the Hatch Podcast, we are excited to host Hashem Aliedeh, the visionary founder of Avicenna Diagnostics. Driven by a passion to combat the global diabetes crisis, Hashem shares his journey from a practicing medical doctor to an innovator in the field of glucose monitoring, focusing on the most vulnerable segment—seniors. With a staggering 530 million people grappling with diabetes worldwide, Hashem’s insights into how Avicenna’s advanced glucose meters and intuitive software are setting a new standard for clinical outcomes among adults aged 60 and above are not to be missed.
In our conversation, Hashem discusses the strategic pivot to focus on elderly diabetics, whose unique challenges are often overlooked. He opens up about the technological and financial hurdles faced in developing medical sensors and how Avicenna’s solutions prioritize data quality and contextual insights, pushing the boundaries of diabetes management. Beyond the technicalities, we explore the rewarding essence of entrepreneurship and the power of unwavering commitment to one’s vision. For those inspired to embark on their own innovative journeys, Hashem generously shares invaluable advice based on his personal experiences and highlights the importance of perseverance. Join us for an enlightening session that promises to inspire and inform.
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Transcript:
Host:
Hatch Hatch. This is the Hatch Podcast, where technology comes to life. A Hatch Fairhope production.
Host:
At Hatch Fairhope, we’re all about cultivating creativity, driving innovation and accelerating growth. Welcome to the Hatch Podcast. Each episode will bring you inspiring conversations with innovators who are pushing boundaries, solving problems and building the next wave of success. Today, we’re spotlighting Avacina Diagnostics, a pioneering medical innovation company focused on revolutionizing glucose monitoring. Founded by Hashem Aliedeh , Avicenna Diagnostics is developing an integrated system that combines advanced glucose meters with intuitive software to enhance data collection and accessibility. By specifically targeting adults age 60 and above, who often struggle with traditional small test strips, Avicenna is making glucose monitoring easier and more effective for both patients and healthcare professionals. Today, we’ll explore how this innovative approach aims to transform diabetes management and improve clinical outcomes for this vulnerable population. Hashim, welcome to Hatch Fairh ope.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.
Host:
So why don’t you start by sharing a little bit of your back story, which originally was in medicine, and kind of how you made the transition into the medical innovation side?
Hashem :
So I was born in Jordan, raised a big part of my childhood here in the US. My dad got his PhD here, spent my childhood here in Las Cruces. So in 2019, I graduated med school, finished my training in 2020, and then kind of entered the clinical practice for about a year. During that time I started looking into why diabetics don’t monitor, why we can’t get diabetes under control, Started looking deeper into it, started analyzing a lot of companies, started publishing my findings, and what I found out is that most solutions that we have today and most up-and-coming companies really aren’t solving any problems. They’re kind of just recirculating what was already done. So after that I decided to get my MBA. I decided to kind of pause a clinical career, come to the United States and do that.
Host:
So you started your clinical rotations in when 2020. Yeah, how was that?
Hashem :
2020 was a crazy year, literally the pandemic hit and then it was crazy, so there’s a lot of lockdowns. We literally the pandemic hit and then it was crazy, so there’s a lot of lockdowns. We were kind of forced to kind of work extra, extra time just because the situation so it wasn’t fun. It wasn’t fun, but this is what I do remember. I remember like we should have this kind of reaction to diabetes, but since diabetes is so like insidious and like slow in its damage, we just damage it just kind of flows below the radar. But COVID, for example, it was kind of like a surprise so we just gave it 100% of our attention. Diabetes is much worse.
Host:
Tell us a little bit about that.
Hashem :
It’s literally a crisis. Sometimes the word crisis is thrown out there, but it’s really literally a crisis. So every estimate of the number of diabetics, projected number of diabetics every time we hit that year it exceeds it. So right now there’s about 530 million diabetics globally. It’s going to be 750 million by 2040. In the United States, about 10% of the population have diabetes. 100 million Americans have prediabetes that’s literally the reservoir that are going to become diabetic. According to clinical studies, about 70% of prediabetics will eventually become diabetics. The cost is about $400 billion annually in direct and indirect healthcare expenses. So it’s really expensive, and the same thing across the board globally. So it’s slowly becoming this urgent need that needs to be addressed, and the problem with it is that there’s multiple variables there’s the food, there’s our lifestyle and then there’s clinical management. So we’re really focused on the clinical management. We’re focusing on a segment of the population that are the highest risk, the most expensive, and trying to optimize their clinical care, which we don’t have today.
Host:
So yeah, you said, 40% of diabetics are over the age of 60.
Hashem :
Yes.
Host:
And why does that pose an even greater risk at that age?
Hashem :
So the older you are, of course, the longer you’ve had diabetes. The longer you have diabetes, the higher the correlation with developing complications. Now, what leads to complications is that variation in glucose levels. So of course, the higher the time period, the higher the complications. We have a population that’s growing older and it’s expanding, so it’s going to become about 60% in the next 20 years, which is going to be really expensive to manage if we keep at the current pace. So we literally we could bankrupt ourselves just waiting for that to happen.
Host:
All right, so talk about current glucose monitoring
Hashem :
99% of glucose monitoring today, or the vast majority of glucose monitoring done today, is done by these basic glucose meters. They have an LED screen. If you look at a glucose meter in 2020, and if you look at a glucose meter today, the same brand, it’s the same exact thing, maybe a little style change, but they rely on very basic meters and very or relatively expensive test strips. Now, the problem is that the reason why it’s done this way is just to standardize it, but it literally ignores 40% of the target market. Now why is that really important? Because if you ignore that segment, they’re the highest risk, the most vulnerable to develop complications, and that’s why we have these expenses blowing up. So that’s the current state of glucose monitoring. Now, we’ve addressed this. We’ve addressed this in terms of CGM, but it’s a very expensive solution.
Host:
So why are the test strips problematic for the over 60 population?
Speaker 3:
Because they can’t use it. Imagine you have probably good dexterity right Now. Imagine putting a glove on and trying to use that. That’s literally what they have to do every day. Now imagine you have to do that four times a day, five times a day, 10 times a day. Okay, On top of that, now you have to actually record it. So you have to take a pen and paper, write that glucose rating down, and not just that, write the context behind it. So there’s a lot of manual labor that’s placed on the patient and, of course, patients don’t do it. So if they don’t do it, doctors are blind. Doctors are blind, we can’t do anything, and then complications get worse and worse. And that’s literally what you see. You see so much money being thrown into diabetes care and the outcomes get worse and worse every freaking year. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know why we haven’t solved it yet.
Host:
Well, let’s do it. What’s the solution?
Hashem :
We want to minimize the manual burden on both the doctor and the patient. Any manual burden that you impose on them they’ll ignore, and that’s what we have today. We have a solution that’s very demanding and that’s why most people ignore it. So what we have is we’ve developed a disc design and it hosts 25 tests. So what a patient does, especially if you’re elderly you could easily hold that disc. You put it into the device With the press of a button. You get a new test each time, so you don’t have to work with small test strips. So literally, pick up the meter, press a button, boom, you’re ready to test. That’s the first barrier.
Hashem :
The second thing is that we’ve really advanced the glucose meter. So it’s a touchscreen, it’s interactive and what that allows us is it allows us to aggregate context with that test. So when the patient tests, a prompt pops up. What is this? What type of test is this? Is this fasting? Is this pre-meal insulin or pre-meal glucose levels? And what that does is it aggregates a glucose reading with the context, which is what a doctor needs to do something. So without that you can’t really do much. So that’s kind of what we’re targeting. So the first one is making sure that patients actually test so that these tools are actually usable. Second thing is aggregating that data with context and the third thing is actually having that data reach the doctor.
Hashem :
So right now, if you have a glucose meter, you have to go to the doctor. Doctor has to export it in some way, or you give them a PDF. Doctors really can’t do much with it. So you have about a 15 minute time window with a doctor. He’s not going to read 14 pages of glucose, right? They can’t do that. So what we need to do is we need to integrate a way to kind of aid that doctor in that decision. So what it would do is it would give doctors recommendations based on established standards of care, so it would really ease that process for the doctor. So you minimize barriers at every level and the end goal is to maximize value. To maximize that clinical decision is to make sure that insulin regimens are modified and optimized for each patient, because that’s the only tool we have to manage diabetes. That’s the only thing we can do.
Host:
So you’re basically going into your appointment with these reports, kind of already summarized, and recommendations.
Hashem :
Yeah, so our software is integrated, so you don’t even need your meter with your appointment, right? So the doctor has the software, the patient has his software, his meter.
Host:
Ah, so it’s going directly to the doctor.
Hashem :
Doctor just opens it up, it’s already analyzed with recommendations, seamless, automatic. Nobody has to do anything, because if you want to, if you’re going to tell a doctor to do one extra thing, he’s not going to do it. If you’re going to tell a patient to do one extra thing, they’re not going to do it. So all these manual barriers have to get eliminated. So, going back to kind of the companies that we see today, a lot of them focus on software and what they’re ignoring is actually the real need. So there’s multiple gaps in the market and they’re addressing one gap. So that’s kind of it’s a very fragmented approach. So what Avicenna is doing is we’re taking all of it together, from the patient all the way to the doctor, and making sure that everyone has what they need to actually do something.
Host:
Okay, so where are you in the process? What’s the development stage look like in the timeline?
Hashem :
Right now we’re developing the minimal viable product. So it’s going to be that meter with the screen that’s automatically dispensing. So that should be done in the next few months. We have kind of the basic software for both the we call it the NOIS patient and then the NOIS doctor software. So those are the two software sets that integrate together. So we have the bare bones here, bare bones here. So that’ll be also complete in probably the next six months and then after that it’s just optimization for scaling, for manufacturing. So that’s where we’re at. So this is what we did pretty much during our time here is that we really sharpened our target market, because before that we were kind of we’re going to address diabetes, Right now, no, we’re just going to focus on elderly diabetics and honestly, that’s where we need to focus, the highest risk segment.
Hashem :
You can’t address everything.
Host:
So, going through the program, you decided to tailor your target.
Speaker 3:
Exactly and, honestly, that’s where most of the value is. So we really sharpened where our target market is. And the second thing that the program helped me with was actually technological development. So initially we started with we’re going to build the sensors ourselves. So I know test strips are small, but there’s really a lot of tech that goes into it. So we were going to build that from scratch and then, after talking with the VU advisors, it’s actually it’s not recommended to do that, just because there’s a lot of capital cost that goes into it. So what you end up doing is that you develop the sensor and it’s very expensive and patients can’t buy it because it’s just too expensive. So we changed, so the technological approach changed and then the target market kind of focused. So that’s where we’re at right now.
Speaker 3:
You remember those, the muzzle guns, right? They had to, like, put powder in that. That’s literally what we have today in terms of test strips you have to take one out, put it in, test it, throw it away. Same thing, right? So that’s literally what a lot of companies are trying to do today is they’re trying to build software for a muzzle gun, Right? So it doesn’t really matter what sophisticated software you have, you’re still very limited in terms of how much you can fire, how much you can test or even how useful it is.
Speaker 3:
Right Now, we’re going to take that. We’re going to make more of an automatic, something more automatic, something that’s just easier to use, and then, of course, software with. That is useful because you aggregate more data, more context to that data and you can actually do something about it. So in this I don’t know you hear about AI, right? It’s pretty hype right now, yeah, right. So the thing is with AI models is that you just don’t need data. You also need high quality data, and that’s what we lack today. So if a patient comes to me and he has a lot of glucose readings that are just random, I can’t do anything about it.
Host:
Right, you said context was so important.
Hashem :
Context is really, really important. So that’s what we lack today. So we talked about CGMs. Right, cgms tend to do that. They tend to aggregate a lot of data, but why? We always miss the why. Like why are we doing this? For the vast majority of diabetics, you don’t need 250 readings a day. You literally don’t need it. Like, if you eat an apple today, your glucose levels will spike, right, if you eat it tomorrow, it might spike differently. So what’s the goal of me monitoring that spike? So that’s a big problem in the diabetes industry is that we do stuff and we don’t really know why.
Host:
Yeah, so a lot of information, but not necessarily in a useful way.
Hashem :
Exactly. You don’t just want to aggregate the data. You want to know why you’re aggregating, in what data that’s actually going to be useful. So aggregating data for the sake of data is pointless. You have to know why you’re doing it and that’s, I think that’s where the clinical value comes in. That’s where the medical background really helps is that I know exactly what we need.
Host:
Right, you’ve seen it. You’ve dealt with it
Hashem :
Exactly.
Hashem :
If you’re just going to give me a bunch of data points that I can’t do anything about, then why the hell are we doing this?
Host:
So, as an entrepreneur, what’s been the most rewarding part so far?
Hashem :
The most rewarding part is really meeting new entrepreneurs and new people, especially people who tend to really believe in you. There’s something very humbling about that, so that’s kind of been the most rewarding part. Additionally, I got to come to Alabama. That’s pretty cool. I never thought I’d be here.
Host:
What surprised you most about Alabama?
Hashem :
Honestly, it’s a great place, very green, everyone’s super nice.
Host:
Southern hospitality.
Hashem :
Southern hospitality exactly. You guys need to advertise better.
Host:
That’s what we need. We need better marketing.
Host:
Better marketing. I mean Family Guy’s just ruining Alabama.
Host:
Any advice that you would give to somebody you know considering getting into the startup space.
Hashem :
Yeah, like follow your gut and I don’t know. I think that’s kind of overrated, but there tends to be a lot of moments where you really hit a wall and you just despair and like I want to give up on life and just go get a job and do something like that. But like follow your gut and stick it through and things will start to happen. Oh, the second thing is nothing happens until you give it your all, until you quit your job, until you create your MBA, and then shit starts to happen. Keep that in there.
Host:
Yeah, it’s got it’s definitely like it’s good you don’t have that all in kind of mentality.
Hashem :
That’s, that’s I learned this I I kind of try to play it safe early on and it’s good, like you need that because you kind of want to do something and also want to explore something. That’s fine. But once you get to a point where you have to jump, you have to give it your all and that’s when that’s when, literally, connections start happening. People start emailing you back and then you start getting interviews and doing a lot of stuff and then, like you get insight, you get progress. Before that you’re just kind of wishing.
Host:
Talking with you. I definitely think you have the mindset to see this thing through, for sure
Hashem :
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Host:
I do
Hashem :
That’s awesome.
Host:
So if anybody wants more information on the device, where can they find you? they
Hashem :
They can follow on. MySpace.
Host:
Hey we’re talking innovation here.
Hashem :
So I mean my email is pretty much up there. I have a Twitter, Instagram, Threads, avicenna_ USA
Host:
Got it, Hashem, thanks. So much for taking the time to sit down with us today.
Hashem :
Awesome, I really enjoyed this.
Host:
See, it wasn’t so bad.
Host:
Hatch. This has been the Hatch Podcast, a production of the Hatch team in Fairhope, Alabama. Host Stephanie Glines, producer Tim Scott, executive producer and creator Keith Glines. Visit hatchfairhopecom for more information.