Nitin Bajaj

Welcome to the industry show. I’m your host, Nitin Bajaj. And joining me today is Sulatha Dwarakanath. Sulatha, welcome on the show.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Thank you, Nitin.

Nitin Bajaj

Great to have you here. So let’s start with who is Sulatha?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Well, that’s a good question. I’ve been still finding that out myself. But, you know, to give you some flavor of who I am, you know, I wear various hats at various times.. But I’m a person of, Indian origin. I came, to this country about, 30 32, 35 years now. And I was born and raised in Bangalore mostly. But, I studied at NYU, got my PhD from there, lived there, worked there. Married for 30 years now, to the same person, and, 2 lovely daughters. And right now my huge drive is to address various needs for the disease testing market. And I’m currently the CEO of Kaya17.

Nitin Bajaj

Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that. And now that we know a little bit about you, let’s play a little game. Something we call the underrated, overrated. And, when you’re ready, I’ll share a few themes with you and get your responses on those.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Sure. Go ahead.

Nitin Bajaj

Alright. Let’s start with something that’s hurting us a little bit, the stock market prices.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

So very, very overrated.

Nitin Bajaj

What about, crypto?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Yeah. I think that’s also overrated. I mean, it’s kinda changing now, but it’s still overrated.

Nitin Bajaj

Real estate prices.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Oh, man. Don’t get me started on that. I’m in California, so definitely overrated.

Nitin Bajaj

What about the metaverse?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Oh, yeah. That’s a whole different thing. Yes. Of course. It’s always been overrated according to me.

Nitin Bajaj

Cash.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

I think that is underrated if you ask me. You know? Like, you could do a lot more things with that.

Nitin Bajaj

What about inflation?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Oh, yeah. That’s that’s a big one. That is definitely gonna hit us very soon.

Nitin Bajaj

True. What about the great resignation?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Well, I don’t know what to say about that. There’s 2 sides to that one.

Nitin Bajaj

Alright. The last one I would say is NFTs.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

I think that’s overrated anyway.

Nitin Bajaj

Okay. Alright. Well, thanks for playing along. Let’s bring it back to some questions that are more closer to you. Tell us about Kaya. What is the mission and the vision?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

So Kaya17 is a company, biotech company that’s, very focused on point of care diagnostics. So having this vision in mind, we have created this innovative platform for point of care diagnostics. And it being a platform you have had you can put various applications on it. Currently, we’re working on various different applications, such as, women’s health, allergy testing. And our first, application on that platform is the rapid saliva based COVID test Mhmm. Which, we have, successfully completed. And, we are, we know we are in the commercial stage for that. So the mission and vision of Kaya17 is to bring the accuracy of the lab tests Mhmm. To the examination room, which results where the results are communicated in minutes, not in days. So that’s our biggest vision right now.

Nitin Bajaj

And if I were to further that, why do this and why now?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Good question. You know? So I’ve been in this field for almost 30 years now, more than 30 years. Since 2015, I have been fixated on getting this revolutionary disruptive technology to transform the diagnostic industry from the lab testing to the doctor’s office or the hospital or the near patient or point of care testing. And, we have I’ve been working diligently to find this, you know, new test and point of care is the next revolution that’s gonna happen in diagnostics.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

And, basically, what I want to do is compress the time between the test is performed and the results are given Mhmm. So that you can apply to various fields. And I I’ll explain to you how we can do that with, cancer diagnostics and other things where where time is of essence and infectious diseases. We saw that in this, in the last 2 years where you could, if you shorten the time, you could isolate the person very easily and the transmission rate can go down. So point of care testing results in 15 minutes. That is your key to containing. So this is the right time. And we, we have to be prepared for this kind of pandemic situations. And we saw that very clearly in the last 2 years. And our technology made a huge difference for this.

Nitin Bajaj

So true. And thanks again for your contributions. Tell us a little more about the size and scale of Kaya and also project out a little bit from here because I know a lot of the things are under development.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Mhmm. Yeah. So currently, Kaya is a small company. You know, it’s a relatively small operations. We are located in Livermore, California. So we you have not seen the impact of Kaya yet. And, the ex but we have we are about 12 professionals now working towards expanding the operations. We are actually expand expanding the network to both inside and outside US. So that’s happening. See, while we have developed the supply chain and commercialization of the Kaya testing platform Mhmm. FDA EUA situation and ever changing regulatory landscape has made it really difficult for our execution at this time. But it’s it’s challenging, but it’s not gonna stop us. So because so we we do believe that our COVID 19 test will always be an ongoing market that is available for us and high and it being a very highly accurate and the only saliva test in the market today will definitely take us to the next level. But, you know, we are developing, new tests.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm. We

Sulatha Dwarakanath

are, actually developing a women’s health panel, which is a, oncology based testing for women’s health. And this is a huge multibillion dollar market, as you know, and allergy testing. That’s a huge another huge market just in the US. And of course, allergy market is big even in Europe and other places. So we are addressing these huge markets with where we’ll get into it very, very soon. We are under development with all the testing and automation systems and other things. So we believe that the efficacy and the importance of our testing solution can address these markets, and it’ll make a huge difference in large scale.

Nitin Bajaj

You are addressing a huge market that has been ripe for innovation and disruptive innovation, honestly. What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Yeah. That’s a good question. You know, being a startup, there’s always multiple challenges that you face, especially being a biotech startup. You know, your, challenges are are, also and it’s a very regulated market. Right? Extremely regulated. So that’s your biggest challenge most of the time. But we, you know, ongoing, we we we are facing funding requirements. There’s always that ongoing requirement for raising more funds. And it’s also a very heavy resource oriented, you know, field. So and regulatory requirements. These are the biggest two challenges that I see in this business. But, and also, you know, investors sometimes don’t understand that turnaround time in the biotech industry is much longer for a product to appreciate, because they’re all seeing the tech industry and, you know, things happen very, very fast. But for us, being regulated market, we have to do all all our regulatory things as well. So so these are some of the challenges, but, you know, this ongoing, you know, FDA approval process and predicting the likelihood of a successful outcome has become totally impossible with FDA. So so we have to, you know, be very, what to say, creative in how we do things in this market. And but, you know, it’s been a challenging thing. It is going to be a challenging thing for us. And also the market being, you know, up and down, you know, fundraising is always a big challenge. But I think and also this Nitin COVID, what has happened is the short term demand for this over the counter strict tests, which are highly inaccurate has made it even more challenging for the market for us. So but, you know, we’re modeling through, and there’s always startup challenges that we have to face.

Nitin Bajaj

So true. On the flip side of challenges come opportunities, and you obviously mentioned a few of those. But if you were to pick the the one most exciting opportunity you’re targeting, what would that be?

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Oh, I think the women’s, pan health panel that we are developing, I think that’s the most exciting thing for me at least. This opportunity that we are targeting for various, reasons. 1st, you know, early testing, early detection of cancer is extremely important, and our platform can do that today. And, you know, then other second, the burden of, lifting the cost from, insurance companies because late stage, you know, detection can lead to a lot more costs. And these 2 together can make a huge difference in the world. And I think this is gonna be huge benefits across the globe, not just in the US or anywhere else, but across the globe. This women’s health panel is gonna make a huge, huge difference with the way that we are formatting. So I think we are doing a providing a dual solution Mhmm. If you can say. So it’s very, exciting for me. And that’s, I think, our biggest opportunity right now.

Nitin Bajaj

And I agree with your excitement because on one end, you’re looking at improving the quality of life instantaneously. Mhmm. Absolutely. There’s a lot of efficiency that comes in, not just in terms of saving cost, but just the hassle and the stress one has to go through. I think, you know, we were talking about this briefly that just living in that suspense for days. Yeah. It just takes a lot out of you.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Yeah. See, when you don’t know, it’s a different story. But once you know, you want to really know. And that is is a big killer. I I’ve seen our friends go through. I’ve seen, some family go through with it. It is not easy. And so I think this makes a and having an accurate test is also another very important part that, you know, a lot of people discount that. Mhmm. You know, if I tell somebody a wrong result, that really leads to a big change in how your life is going to be. And I think having that accuracy in the the time frame that we are talking about is gonna make a big difference. Not just, you know, like you said, in terms of, you know, the medical outcomes, but in psychological outcomes also, huge huge

Nitin Bajaj

difference. You know, one of the things that I’m most excited about, area you’re working on is the detection of allergies. My experience has been they’ve been nonconclusive. Right? Test time. Test time. Yeah. And so I’m personally more excited about that. Mhmm. I’ll make sure to keep following up with you on that. Yeah. Absolutely. My hand to be a guinea pig for it.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Sure. Yeah. We always need subjects. But, you know, yeah, allergy is another big thing. And I’m I’m a victim of allergy problems, and I’ve had my share ever since I was a little girl. You know? So it’s been, it’s been very exciting to even do that. So I think, we will you will see a lot lot more stuff coming out of Kaya in the market very soon.

Nitin Bajaj

We’re really excited about that. Now, as we look forward, let’s, let’s pause and look backwards and, rear view mirror as I like to call it. What’s one experience that, did not work out as you had expected? And, also, one experience that, you know, you blew it out of the park. It just went beyond your expectations.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Mhmm. Yeah. So these 2 are very important things, and they’re both learning, you know, outcomes for for for us. You know? So one lesson that we learned was you have to always think, be mindful of alternative approaches.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

You know, as scientists, what happens, and as entrepreneurs, we are so close to the product that we develop. We kind of become blindsided to so to a large extent. And we just go in in one way, and we think that’s the only way that we can work, but you have to be flexible. You have to be open minded and you have to be innovative, not just in the product, but in the way you do the business. Very, very you have to be very flexible. So alternative approaches are extremely important, and we saw this with our, you know, COVID test. And you could sell it through CLIA Labs. You could not only wait for FDA. You can do various things where, you know, it’s not like I’m doing something wrong. It’s, you know, various approaches to what you want to do. So I think maintaining a perspective and clarity, as well as staying nimble and flexible, to an approach is very, very critical for, and these lessons I have learned the hard way, but, you know, it’s okay. I’ve learned and moved on. So Yeah. And, you have, you talked about a success story. I think we’re talking about it right now. It’s Kaya17. And, you know, we started in 2015 in a garage, and we have since raised capital. We have done a lot of things. In the middle of pandemic, we said, okay, let’s pivot to testing for the for this virus that is devastating the whole world.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Let’s find a solution. And, you know, in the speed of in, biotech and diagnostics, the speed is not that fast as we we were talking before. It takes time to do certain. But, you know, with the team that I had and, with our vision to get this test that is accurate, fast, and it should be something easy to test and saliva based. So today, I can proudly say I have ours is the only 15 minute rapid saliva test in the market. So very, very proud of that. That’s our biggest success, and now you’ll see more successes will come based on that. So

Nitin Bajaj

That’s amazing.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Very proud of that. In in, like, 3, 4 months, we developed that test and, you know, we had our supply chain set up and everything set up. It was amazing. It was something else.

Nitin Bajaj

That is truly

Sulatha Dwarakanath

And even I look back and I’m like, oh my god. Did we actually really do that?

Nitin Bajaj

Well, many more to come. Right? Yeah. And, that’s a good transition into my favorite part of the show, the one line life lessons. So we would love to hear a few of those from you. And, you know, just, as a recap for our audience, these are not quotes. These are lessons that you’ve either come up with or have come to adopt and in turn have come to change your life in in your personal and your professional

Sulatha Dwarakanath

life. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. So so I always say, you know, there is the famous quote from Hamlet to be or not to be. There’s always that doubt. There’s no doubt. It is to be or not to be. That’s never a question. It is always to be. That’s what I say. That’s not good. See, if you and, you know, another one that I really like is if you if you’re a failure, if you stop trying, that’s where the failure comes.

Nitin Bajaj

Mhmm.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

And, and you have to be very perseverant. Never quit. The secret to success has always been trying one more time.

Nitin Bajaj

Yes.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

And you will get success. You will find success. And that mindset has to be there. So, and also just be yourself and you can do anything you want. And, you know, never pretend to be something else that you are not. You have to be yourself and you don’t meet success without failure. That’s for sure.

Nitin Bajaj

True. That is so true. Well, thanks a lot for sharing those. And for our audience, we have an entire collection at onelineelifelessons.com. We have one liners also there pretty soon. And, you know, some of the ones you shared, so that are very near and dear to me. Mhmm. Especially just to be yourself because Yeah. I think, I remember this one. Be yourself because everyone else is taken.

Sulatha Dwarakanath

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. That’s a good one. Yeah. Absolutely.

Nitin Bajaj

Well, thanks again for making the time to be with us and for sharing your journey and your life lessons with us. We really appreciate

Sulatha Dwarakanath

1. Thank you very much. This was really nice talking to you. Its actually a nice journey to think about when you talk to somebody else. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity.

Nitin Bajaj

Pleasure is all ours. Thanks so much, Sulatha.