Capitainer has signed a distribution deal with Speciality Diagnostix for Europe and Australia/New Zealand.

The deal comes amid increasing interest driven by COVID-19 in Capitainer’s highly accurate qDBS dried blood spot sampling system.

“Specialty Diagnostix is an ideal partner for us. They are dedicated to the marketing and distribution of novel, laboratory based assays and active in 25 markets, directly serving 15 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, genomics anti-doping testing we had originally identified. In addition, we are working with several groups involved in COVID-19 testing and planning to launch antibody testing in Sweden together with several health care regions,” says Christopher Aulin, CEO of Capitainer.

Enable patients to collect their own volume defined dried blood spot at home

Capitainer’s qDBS system is designed to enable patients to collect their own volume defined dried blood spot at home. The patented smart chip ensures exact sample volumes of 10ul with low CV, independent of haematocrit. Patients simply place their finger over the inlet port on the qDBS card which automatically fills a microchannel with the required amount and discards any excess.

The potential for human error is thus completely eliminated, states the company.  Subsequently, the blood volume contained in the microchannel automatically transfers to the specimen collection membrane, forming an accurate and high quality dried blood spot sample, preserved for quantitative bioanalysis. The filled card can then be safely transported to the point of testing without the need for refrigeration or specialised packaging.