TimeTeller’s saliva test puts circadian clocks at the center of personalized medicine

TimeTeller has developed a saliva test kit designed to help people understand their circadian rhythm. The German startup’s broader thesis is that precision medicine should not only ask what treatment a person receives, but also when that treatment is given. Its clearest target is oncology, where the company aims to reduce side effects from cancer treatments by aligning care with a patient’s internal clock.

TimeTeller’s direct-to-consumer kit is not positioned as a tool for patients to time cancer treatments on their own. CEO Angela Relógio said that medicine-specific timing has to be calculated in the context of clinical studies. For now, demand from longevity clinics is helping drive direct orders, with potential use in advice around sleep, nutrition, light exposure, and physical activity.

Relógio’s background includes oncology, circadian biology, and systems medicine, and the article frames cancer as TimeTeller’s central focus. The startup could also apply its approach to metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, performance, and women’s health. But its founding motivation came from the observation that side effects can influence whether cancer patients stop or start treatment.

TimeTeller spun out of Berlin’s Charité university hospital and later moved to Medical School Hamburg. With co-founder Benjamin Dose, the company secured a partnership with Techniker Krankenkasse that began as reimbursement for a subset of cancer patients, with both sides ready to expand it to more of the insurer’s 12 million members, according to Relógio. TimeTeller also appeared at TechCrunch Disrupt as part of Startup Battlefield.