The Voloridge Health Biomarker Reference Guide

A guide for patients and clinicians to understand health through biomarkers

Introduction

Voloridge Health (“VH”) created the Biomarker Reference Guide (“BRG”) to help recipients and health care professionals fully evaluate and understand the impact of the laboratory test results in six health domains. VH selected these six health domains based on their prevalence and individual impact on overall health and wellness and aging. The BRG is intended to encourage the general state of health and promote a healthy lifestyle by encouraging recipients to make healthy choices that are well-understood to reduce the risk or impact of, or play a role in the outcome of, a chronic disease or condition.

VH encourages recipients to discuss their Voloridge Health & Wellness Report with a qualified healthcare professional, in addition to the Biomarker Reference Guide assisting recipients and health care professionals with evaluation of the impact of the laboratory test results in the six health domains. This guide contains Voloridge Modeled Range (VMR) values for the biomarkers in the laboratory test results and explains how the biomarkers are associated with the six health domains.

The VH reports are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, or screening or diagnostic testing; nor are they intended to be the basis for medical decisions. Neither the Voloridge Health & Wellness Report reports nor the Voloridge Health Biomarker Reference Guide accounts for all important factors linked to health, and therefore they cannot rule out the presence or absence of disease or other medical conditions.

Biomarkers and How We Use Them

A biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurable indicator of a biological process or condition in the body. VH’s VoloScores are calculated based on how an individual’s biomarkers and clinical data compare to the biomarker and clinical data of individuals of the same age and sex in the UK Biobank (a large population database).

The healthier an individual’s biomarkers, the better the VoloScore in each domain. A VoloScore of 200 represents an individual’s health in a particular domain is average compared to similar individuals in the UK Biobank.

Taking steps to improve biomarkers related to an individual’s score may help reduce the risk of, or impact of, chronic diseases.

Health Multiplier

The biomarker Health Multiplier is a metric measuring the degree to which a specific biomarker value for an individual is impacting the health domain. A Health Multiplier value above 1.0 indicates an individual’s test result for a specific biomarker is increasing the VoloScore for a particular health domain; whereas a value below 1.0 indicates an individual’s test result for a specific biomarker is decreasing the VoloScore for a particular health domain. If an individual has a Health Multiplier of 1.15 for a specific biomarker, it represents the individual is doing 15 percent better for the biomarker, within the reported Health Domain, than the average expected for the individual’s age and sex based on the UKB. If an individual has a Health Multiplier of 0.8 for a specific biomarker, it represents the individual is doing 20 percent worse for the biomarker, within the reported Health Domain, than the average expected for the individual’s age and sex based on the UKB.

The Voloridge Modeled Range (VMR)

Laboratory reference ranges typically focus on single biomarker- disease relationships, and they typically are not sex-specific. The Voloridge Modeled Range (VMR) is different. The VMR shows the ideal sex-specific reference range associated with the highest level of health and wellness for the six major health domains (cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory, liver, kidney, and brain health). Where traditional models might relate cholesterol only to cardiovascular disease, our models assess broader, long-term impacts of levels of cholesterol and overall health and wellness. The VMR is derived from unbiased, data-driven analyses, and it provides research insight, not medical advice.

VH’s reports compare an individual’s test results to the VMR and laboratory reference values.

The Voloridge Health models

Many traditional models assess individual biomarkers and their association with a single disease endpoint, for example the LDL-C relationship to cardiovascular disease. Standard laboratory ranges in medical literature are based on clinical guidelines and/or population norms, with emphasis on acute diagnostic assessment rather than longer-term health outcome probabilities.

The VH Methodology was developed through extensive data-driven research and modeling to provide more insights into biomarker variability allowing for tailored care plans for individuals. Unlike traditional laboratory reference ranges, which may lack stratification by biological sex and impact to different health domains, the VH Model incorporates sex-specific and “health domain” specific insights for greater precision.

Importantly, the VH Model is not intended to replace laboratory reference ranges but to act as a complementary tool supporting health and wellness education. The VH Model and insights are developed through extensive data analysis using population-level cohorts (e.g., the UK Biobank). It is important to consider additional factors such as racial diversity and genetic predisposition, which require further context for individual interpretation.

This guide is designed to help clinicians and patients identify patterns supporting an integrated approach to healthcare intended to encourage the general state of health and promote a healthy lifestyle by encouraging recipients to make healthy choices that are well-understood to reduce the risk or impact of, or play a role in the outcome of, a chronic disease or condition.

Biomarker Strength

Voloridge Health shows how each individual biomarker influences an individual’s VoloScore in the Voloridge Health & Wellness Report for each of the six health domains, with a predictive strength value. These values range from 1 (weakest) to 10 (strongest) based on how strong the correlation between the biomarker and the VoloScore in a specific domain is for each individual. This allows users to see which biomarkers contribute most to each VoloScore.

In the Health Multipliers by Health Domain section of this guide, biomarkers are colored with a gradient as illustrated in the graphic below. White denotes lower strength, while green [RA1] [RA2] represents a higher strength association.

Additionally, all biomarkers and their respective strength values are outlined in the Health Multipliers by Biomarker section.Our model scales biomarker strength on a 10-point basis, zero designating no impact or strength and 10 indicating the highest biomarker strength. A value of 7 would have 70% of the predictive strength of a value of 10.[LD1]

Health Domains

Certain diseases are well defined with diagnostic testing, by evaluating specific biomarker levels against established clinical thresholds. We acknowledge a health multiplier may not be as clinically relevant in the context of determining Metabolic Health for a patient with HgbA1C values ≥ 6.5%. Despite this, values for such biomarkers are provided in this guide to maintain consistency.