Matt Leming, Co-Founder and CEO of Enhance Health, met with flok to share an update on their non-invasive breath test designed to measure ammonia levels for individuals with Urea Cycle Disorders (UCDs).
Matt lives with PKU and personally understands the challenges of waiting days for lab results that guide metabolic condition management—and the limitations that delay can place on timely care decisions.
“With PKU, I do a finger stick blood test at home, mail it in, and get results about a week and a half later. The timeline is worthless from my perspective, for understanding and optimizing dietary management,” Matt explains. “Point-of-care testing would help in the care of Urea Cycle Disorders, where patients are at risk for hyperammonemia and need to understand what their ammonia levels are in real-time.”
Early Findings from ACMG
The Enhance Health team shared encouraging study results at the 2026 ACMG Annual Meeting. Findings show that ammonia levels in participants decreased after taking Ravicti (a nitrogen-scavenger medication used to decrease ammonia levels), and breath measurements appeared to reflect elevations of ammonia when participants felt symptomatic.[1]
What This Could Mean for Care
Enhance Health’s breath test device is intended for use at home under physician supervision, with the goal of making real-time ammonia monitoring more accessible.
This technology could support care through:
- Real-time monitoring: Check ammonia levels when symptoms arise, track trends over time, and better understand individual baseline levels
- Medication management: Help guide dosing of ammonia-scavenger therapies to optimize treatment
Ammonia breath test device prototype
Ammonia breath test device prototypeWhat's Next
Enhance Health will launch another clinical study in UCD patients this year. They plan to submit to the FDA with a goal of making the device available by prescription in 2027.
References
1. Leming, M., Nguyen, C., Goforth, C., Chumanov, G., & Latour, R. (2026, March). Simple breath test to monitor blood ammonia levels in patients with a urea cycle disorder [Poster presentation]. ACMG, Baltimore, MD.
