for immediate release
June 5, 2025 05:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time & 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
TUCSON, A.Z. – UGenome AI, a pioneer in genomic platforms to fuel personalized medicine, today announced a strategic partnership with Kaüna to deliver medication management support for patients receiving kidney care at Kaüna-supported centers.The strategic partnership provides nephrologists additional tools to help patients receiving dialysis treatment and preparing for kidney transplants.
The United States spends over $500 billion annually on kidney care, yet it has among the highest mortality rates for individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and some of the lowest rates of optimal initiation of renal replacement therapy, home-based dialysis, and kidney transplantation among high-income countries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024). This troubling trend is expected to worsen with the continued rise in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Spurred by the 2019 Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative, which aimed to radically transform kidney care in the U.S., Kaüna was founded to provide kidney care providers with bottom-up support in care management, technology, contracting, and other administrative functions essential to succeeding in value-based care. A core pillar of this mission is personalized treatment — using the unique clinical and biological profile of each patient to guide care decisions. This makes Kaüna’s partnership with UGenome AI a natural extension of its work, helping to bring genomic insights and precision medication management directly to the point of care.
“We are thrilled to partner with Kauna because we believe in their team and their mission to create value-based kidney centers in South Florida and beyond to help patients directly and reduce the long-term financial burden related to chronic kidney disease, ” said Zachary Brooks, PhD, founder and CEO of UGenome AI. In the United States, more than 1 in 7 US adults—about 35.5 million people, are estimated to have CKD.2 Moreover, non-Hispanic Black adults (20%) are more likely to suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD) than other groups. 2
“This partnership also puts us on the front lines of applying the latest guidelines from the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) initiative, which now support genetic testing for most CKD patients to help establish the underlying cause of disease. Historically, the patients who could benefit most from this kind of precision — especially those from marginalized and underserved communities — have had the least access. Together with UGenome AI, we’re working to change that by making advanced genomic insights a standard part of equitable, high-quality kidney care” said Collins Oghor, MD, Founder & CEO of Kaüna.
“Through UGenome’s Personalized Medication Service, we help nephrologists optimize and personalize medication therapies for their patients. This will improve not only kidney care, but overall health outcomes for the patients”, said Jayden Lee, PharmD, UGenome’s Chief Genomics Officer.
“We believe that UGenome’s Personalized Medication Service will help us take huge strides for our patients and move chronic care management from trial-and-error to smile-and-care,” said Collins.
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About UGenome AI
UGenome AI is a startup biotech company focusing on developing genomics software. UGenome AI is advancing genomics analysis and helping patients receive personalized care, faster. Our products stem from our personalized reference genome and pharmacogenomics tools to help patients receive personalized treatments within weeks, not years. For more information, please visit www.ugenome.io.
About Kaüna
Kaüna is a new kidney care company. We aim to transform the management of chronic kidney disease in America by placing genuine patient care at the system’s center and uplifting two other crucial stakeholders—the care coordinators and nephrologists whom kidney disease patients rely on for their care. Please visit https://kauna.co/.
For Media:
Emma Bardin
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 6). Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, 2023. Chronic Kidney Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/kidney-disease/php/data-research/index.html