UK Medtech TestCard basked in the glory of star status at the world’s most important (and biggest) trade fair this week; CES (Consumer Electronics Show).
The company, which was exhibiting in Eureka Park, picked up the ‘Top Emerging Technology’ Award at the show, beating off competition from 4,500 exhibitors, as over 200,000 delegates descended on Las Vegas for the annual tech extravaganza.
The latest win comes as TestCard prepares to launch the first of its at-home diagnostic products (at-home UTI, pregnancy and diabetes screening), with roll outs plotted for the UK, India and US markets during 2019.
TestCard turns your iPhone into a private, clinical-grade urinalysis kit
TestCard is already functional in the UK, where the company has partnered with home care providers and insurance companies to provide low-cost screenings and pre-screening triage for health conditions, including glucose levels for diabetes.
The startup expects to bring its product to the U.S. by the end of 2019. Illustrating how its low-cost product (a test package of three strips costs less than $5), the company notes that there are an estimated 10.5 million clinic visits annually for urinary tract infections alone, and around 2-3 million of those involve an Emergency Room response. The firm stated that the average cost of treating a UTI in the U.S. was $2,598.
The range of urine-based testing that TestCard’s various strips can evaluate include fertility testing and ovulation optimization, allowing the app to provide guidance on the ideal timing for successful conception based on hormone tracking over time; a prostate health score derived from measuring a prostatic specific antigen; urinalysis of ketone levels and proteins used to monitor kidney health over time; and screenings for drugs including amphetamines, barbiturates, and narcotics.
Beyond partnerships with insurance companies, healthcare trusts, and general practitioners, TestCard also plans to sell its test packages directly to consumers at retail and online through merchants including Amazon. Its extremely low-cost packaging and simple mailer format enable the product to reach remote geographies where traveling to a doctor or clinic may be impractical, particularly for applications that involve regular, ongoing testing.
By taking advantage of the sophisticated mobile cameras in modern iPhones, the TestCard app can be used by untrained staff and still deliver highly accurate data compliant with British NHS and ISO regulations, and the company expects to gain prompt approval in the rest of Europe and the U.S. under FDA “substantially similar” policies followed to align American and foreign regulators. The product already has CE marking designating that it meets EU requirements, and will only need local language packaging to expand across various markets in Europe.