When COVID-19 shut the world down in 2020, Marlon Millard had a problem. He was in the middle of working on a PhD in medicinal chemistry and, as a self-described “lab-rat,” the pandemic closures meant he was unable to continue his studies in the research facility.
Rather than patiently waiting for everything to reopen, Millard pivoted. “I thought, ‘instead of building molecules, maybe I could build a business,” he said.
With the world very much invested in non-invasive saliva testing to manage the spread of COVID-19, Millard pondered whether technology he learned in a previous job could play a more permanent role in sports.
In 2021, he founded health-teach startup Biolyz. The company conducts saliva testing for professional sports teams, providing analysis on dozens of biomarkers that touch immunology, inflammation, sleep, hydration, psychological stress and more. The clubs use that data, as well as additional information gathered through other testing methods, to aid in the management of the training loads and performance of their athletes.
So far, Biolyz has amassed eight soccer clients across continental Europe, between full-time customers and those testing the service on a trial basis. That includes top German clubs Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, as well as other squads in the Netherlands and Italy. It also works with multiple cycling teams.
