Shortly after securing an FDA clearance last month for its simple, self-operated blood sample collection device, Tasso has teamed up with Catapult Health to help propel its device into people’s homes.
Catapult—which provides a digital preventive care network spanning 3,500 employers and more than 2 million people—will begin offering the Tasso+ blood collector as part of its VirtualCheckup program, which offers an annual telehealth wellness exam and diagnostic tests through the mail.
“Tasso’s innovative blood collection device is a perfect addition to our VirtualCheckup kit because it allows individuals to easily collect their own blood sample at home, virtually pain-free and without the traditional finger stick,” Catapult CEO David Michel said in a release.
That will help enable blood tests for identifying risk factors for chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, Michel added.
Though the company first formed with focus on providing preventive healthcare services at the work site, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led it to launch its all-virtual solution, Michel told Fierce Healthcare in a 2020 interview.
Starting Oct. 5, each VirtualCheckup home kit will include the Tasso+, which replaces previous fingerstick supplies, alongside a blood pressure monitor and measuring tape. Tasso’s lancet device is placed on the upper arm and coaxes a sample from the capillaries with the press of a button.
The blood samples will be mailed to Catapult’s laboratory in Dallas for processing. Afterward, the user is scheduled for a video chat with the company’s nurse practitioners.
“Today’s surging demand for virtual patient care further highlights the shortcomings of the painful, inconvenient, and inconsistent in-person blood draw procedure, which has been the standard of care for more than 60 years,” said Tasso CEO Ben Casavant.
Separately, Tasso—a former Fierce 15 winner—has paired up with Vault Health to bring its sample collectors to decentralized clinical trials, where the company’s devices will be used in the same manner to conduct at-home diagnostic tests among participants in research studies.
Following its FDA clearance in September, Tasso said it planned to make Tasso+ available nationwide to pharma companies, healthcare organizations and academic centers by the end of the year.
The company also produces the Tasso-M20—which instead provides dried blood samples and received a European approval for clinical trial use last year—and the investigational Tasso-SST, which takes samples without adding preservatives to allow for immediate tests of antibodies and other diagnostics in the clinic setting.