Tasso, Inc., a medtech start-up developing a wearable blood draw device, has secured $2.3M in grant funding for its HemoLink technology.
After a successful SBIR Phase I, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has granted the company an additional $1.75M in a Phase II effort to demonstrate large volume sample acquisition from the capillary bed. The NIH, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, has also granted the company a Phase I SBIR of $400k in an effort to provide better health care for underprivileged populations.
Professor David Beebe, recently named to the board of directors, comments, “Tasso has generated data that demonstrates a 200 microliter blood draw with a proprietary microfluidic platform. This is a significant achievement in the field of blood sample acquisition and I am excited about its potential for collecting even larger volumes.”
With the R&D effort advancing at full steam, the company has turned its eye toward commercialization of the technology. Ms. Dominique Freeman, a seasoned Medical Device and Life Sciences executive, has been recruited to the board of directors. Additionally, Mr. Benjamin Moga will expand his role from Chairman of the Board to lead commercial efforts as President.
“We have compelling data, a motivated management team, and an unmet clinical need in a growing market,” says Mr. Moga. “Expanding home care by enabling safe and convenient blood draws for clinical diagnosis and monitoring is exactly the kind of innovation that improves outcomes without raising healthcare costs.”
