Tasso Inc. is working on a method to allow patients to draw blood and
send samples to a lab in the convenience of their own home.
HemoLink is a product that connects patients to the clinical lab by
replacing expensive and time-consuming visits to the clinic with an
affordable, two-step, at-home device. Not only is it simple for any
person to use, but it also helps doctors monitor treatment more
consistently.
Read this story at WisBusiness here.
“The HemoLink is delivered to your home, self-applied and shipped to
a laboratory via standard mail. The user places the device on the arm
or stomach and removes it two minutes later,” said Ben Moga, president
of Tasso, Inc.
The idea may seem simple but the hope is to change the way patients
view health care and the way doctors monitor treatment. “Tasso is the
Netflix of blood sampling,” Moga said.
Tasso is based in Madison and was co-founded in 2011 by Moga, Dr.
Erwin Berthier and Dr. Ben Casavant, who have experience in medical
equipment, microfluidics and entrepreneurship, respectively. Moga and
his team at Tasso develop blood collection products to improve the blood
sampling process in order to “expand the reach of healthcare.”
In other words, they envision an environment in which people will
not have to worry about taking time out of their busy schedules or think
twice about having to wait at the clinic.
HemoLink focuses on people with HIV because frequent monitoring of
HIV viral load is critical in evaluating how well treatment is working.
People with HIV need this test done every two to eight weeks at the
start of treatment, in addition to every three to six months.
Viral load testing estimates how much of the virus is in the blood
and doctors need this information to check progression of the disease.
The purpose of treatment is to reach an undetectable viral load, meaning
there is less HIV in the body and thus, the person has a greater chance
of living longer and has a reduced transmission risk. The process
requires a lot of blood samples.
With HemoLink, people are more likely to get tested and thus,
continue to improve their health. Moreover, Tasso is “the only company
in the industry that has demonstrated blood draws of greater than 100
microliters,” which is a required sample volume.
Tasso hopes to reach the market by the end of 2015. The company has
secured $2.3 million in funding and is anticipating another award of
$1.6 million by the end of June. Additionally, the company is seeking an
angel or venture seed round of $1.5 million.
Upon FDA clearance, Tasso will partner with an established
distributor as well as market directly to health care providers and
consumers. With the successful launch of HemoLink, the company’s
founders also look forward to applying its use to more diagnostic areas
including infectious disease, organ transplant and genetic screening. By
reaching out to wider array of consumers and payers, Tasso can
transform the process of blood collection sampling in order to make it
more approachable.
The company is a finalist in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan
Contest, which will culminate June 3-4 at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’
Conference in Madison.
— By Jamie Liang, for WisBusiness.com. Liang is a senior in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.
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