NEW YORK ─ Swedish startup Capitainer on Wednesday announced that it has inked a distribution deal that will enable Speciality Diagnostix to distribute its dried blood spot sampling product, Capitainer qDBS, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Christopher Aulin, CEO of Capitainer, said in a statement that Speciality Diagnostix distributes laboratory-based assays in 25 markets, serving European and Asia Pacific countries. "They will help us meet strong interest for qDBS across the wide range of both existing and new applications, such as therapeutic drug monitoring [and] genomics anti-doping testing we had originally identified," he said. "In addition, we are working with several groups involved in COVID-19 testing and planning to launch antibody testing in Sweden together with several healthcare regions."
According to Stockholm-based Capitainer, its product enables a patient to collect a dried blood spot at home. A smart chip ensures exact sample volumes of 10ul with low coefficient of variation regardless of the sample's hematocrit, the firm said.
A patient places a finger over the inlet port, and the product's qDBS card automatically allows the filling of the required amount of blood within a microchannel, discarding any excess sample. Blood is transferred to a specimen collection membrane, forming a dried blood spot sample preserved for quantitative bioanalysis. The card can then be transported to the point of testing without the need for refrigeration or specialized packaging.
Capitainer in March announced the closing of SEK 15 million ($1.7 million) in financing to support the commercialization of Capitainer qDBS.