Cleerly's Vision for a World Without Heart Attacks: A Conversation with CEO Dr. James Min

Value Drivers

Dr. James Min, founder and CEO of Cleerly, is interviewed about his journey from a medical background to entrepreneurship. Dr. Min, a cardiologist by training, spent 15 years at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cornell Medical College. He discusses the development of the coronary CT angiogram, a tool that allowed his team to learn about vascular biology and the causes of heart attacks. This led to a clinical program called Heart Health, which, through a personalized approach to disease evaluation using imaging, saw no heart attacks in its patients over several years. Dr. Min realized that scaling this approach would require computational methods, which led to the founding of Cleerly. He notes that he was an "unlikely entrepreneur," being more focused on clinical trials and research previously.

The interview highlights the limitations of traditional cardiology, which often equates symptoms with risk of heart attack. Dr. Min explains that many people who have heart attacks never experience symptoms beforehand. He stresses the importance of diagnosing heart conditions earlier through precision detection. Traditional stress tests, he notes, miss the majority of people with heart disease and can produce false negatives. Cleerly's approach involves advanced 3D imaging with high resolution, coupled with a care management platform. This platform aims to educate primary care physicians, general cardiologists, and patients on how to understand and act on the imaging data. The goal is to provide a comprehensive approach including evaluation, treatment, and tracking of changes over time. While there are competitors in the space, Cleerly takes a different approach by focusing on identifying risk of heart attacks in all patients, whether they are symptomatic or not. Dr. Min also notes that Cleerly uses an AI-enabled approach.

The discussion covers the market opportunity, noting that there are millions of non-invasive coronary artery imaging tests performed yearly. Because most heart attack patients don't have symptoms before their events, Dr. Min suggests that the total addressable market could include every adult. To prove the value of Cleerly's approach, the company is conducting a large randomized control trial with asymptomatic patients to compare standard care with Cleerly-guided care. Dr. Min discusses a recent funding round of $106 million, which will be used for commercial growth and scaling, as well as to support the ongoing clinical trial. He emphasizes the importance of demonstrating that their technology is effective for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. He also highlights Cleerly's exploration of value-based care models. Dr. Min believes that earlier diagnosis and prevention are key to reducing healthcare costs.

Dr. Min discusses his view of the future of medicine, particularly the role of AI. He believes that AI will replace the majority of doctors’ admin activities, especially menial tasks, such as entering data into electronic health records. He thinks that doctors will be more involved in patient interaction and integrating different forms of data to make clinically actionable insights. He advises medical students to focus on the humanity of taking care of people and on the science and clinical data that helps them to do that. He also expresses optimism about the future of medicine. While acknowledging the slow pace of technology adoption due to regulation, he is hopeful that healthcare will improve dramatically over the next 10 years. He states that Cleerly has a team of about 200 people. He describes Cleerly's operating philosophy, which includes a 3-year strategic plan, annual operating plans, company-wide objectives, and key results, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decisions. Dr. Min's mission is for Cleerly to help create a world without heart attacks.

Key Takeaways

· Identify a genuine problem: Dr. Min's journey began with a clear clinical problem: the inadequacy of traditional methods in predicting heart attacks. He didn't start with technology; he started with a need to solve an issue in cardiology . For entrepreneurs, this highlights the importance of starting with a problem that has a significant impact, rather than creating a solution and then searching for a problem.

· Deep domain expertise matters: Dr. Min’s background as a cardiologist and researcher provided him with the necessary insights and credibility in the medical field. His deep understanding of vascular biology and the shortcomings of existing methods allowed him to develop an effective and innovative approach. This emphasizes that entrepreneurs should seek a deep understanding of the domain they intend to disrupt.

· Validate with evidence: Dr. Min and his team conducted large-scale clinical trials to validate their findings and support their approach. In highly regulated industries like healthcare, clinical evidence is paramount for adoption. This highlights the importance of investing in research and development to validate the effectiveness and safety of a product.

· Focus on scalability: After experiencing the success of the Heart Health program, Dr. Min realized that it was not scalable in its initial form. This led him to develop computational approaches using machine learning and AI. Entrepreneurs need to think early about how to scale their solutions and should seek innovative methods to make it happen.

· Build a comprehensive solution: Cleerly's platform doesn't just focus on image analysis, but also on a care management platform that educates and empowers various stakeholders. This illustrates the value of building a holistic solution that goes beyond the core technology and addresses other needs of the end users.

· Patience and Long-Term Vision: Dr. Min highlights the importance of building relationships with investors, as he did with Insight Partners. Cleerly's approach to the market is a long term vision, with a need for clinical trials and education for medical professionals . This is a good reminder that in healthcare, building trust takes time, and a long-term perspective is necessary for success.

Chapter Summary

(00:01:04) Introduction - Dr. Min's background and the founding of Cleerly are introduced.

(00:01:29) From Research to Clinical Program - Heart Health program success using personalized imaging is described.

(00:03:17) Need for Scalable Solution - Computational approaches were needed to scale the program.

(00:05:03) Problems with Traditional Cardiology - Symptom-based risk assessment is inadequate; many are asymptomatic.

(00:06:11) Cleerly's Approach - Precision detection with 3D imaging and care management platform.

(00:11:20) Market Opportunity & Growth - Large market, and recent funding to commercialize the product.

(00:20:44) AI and the Future of Medicine - AI will transform medicine and the role of doctors.

(00:35:37) Cleerly's Mission - Cleerly aims to create a world without heart attacks.

Book Mentioned in this Episode

Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money by Bill Perkins

https://www.amazon.com/Die-Zero-Getting-Your-Money/dp/0358099765

Resources:

https://cleerlyhealth.com/

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